Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Department store group John Lewis reported strong sales for last week (to September 27), as continued demand for home products was matched with increased trade in fashion, resulting in sales 15% ahead of last year.
John Lewis online director Mark Lewis said: “Home had another great week with big ticket items growing 20% year over year. Furniture, driven by bedroom and ASAF (Any Shape, Any Fabric), was up 28% year over year. Within EHT (Electricals & Home Technology), electricals had a good growth of 12% year-on-year.”
He noted that High Wycombe led the way in terms of sales figures for branches of full-line shops, while Newbury saw significant growth from the John Lewis ‘At Home’ portfolio. He added that online trade was strong, delivering 35% growth year-on-year as customers took advantage of new ranges and Price Match.
Mark Lewis concluded: “Christmas has topped our online search terms for a few weeks now and this coming week will see the Christmas shop launching in branches, which should stimulate trade across both our channels.
“It was also a busy week operationally as a number of key initiatives were launched for customers in advance of the Christmas peak. We extended the cut-off time for next day and click & collect deliveries from 7pm to 8pm, reworked the next day home delivery service with enhanced tracking and rescheduling options, and improved our returns experience with enhanced communications to reassure customers their products have been safely received and will be refunded promptly.”
