Love is in the air at John Lewis

Snow caused minor disruption to trade at some John Lewis shops for last week (to February 7) but thanks to omnichannel trading, the multiple retailer saw a sales increase of 4.5% on last year.

Online sales for the week were 18.6% up on last year, driven by increased traffic at 22% up, with the impetus coming in particular from fashion.

Branches at Ipswich, Swindon and Ashford achieved double-figure increases and led the way for New Format, with the big shops of Cardiff, Stratford City and Leicester all posting solid increases as well.

John Lewis director of selling, North and New Format, Maggie Porteous said: “We have a wealth of new spring ranges arriving in our shops and online, and our customers are already being tempted to purchase.

“In Home, it was a strong week for the new Fusion range, which is not only highlighted on the seasonal mats in our shops, but also on the cover of the gorgeous new Home catalogue, and helped the directorate to a strong increase of 6.6% on last year. Sales of beds and bedroom furniture continue to be particularly buoyant, and flooring also sold strongly last week.”

She also noted “a great result from small electricals” with strong sales from vacuum cleaners and heating, ensuring that the EHT (Electricals and Home Technology) directorate matched its figures from last year.

“Love will be in the air this weekend,” she concluded, “with Valentine’s Day heralding the first of our seasonal events.”