Published
Apr 30, 2019
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

John Lewis sales fall but summer accessories and sunshine yellow pieces are strong

Published
Apr 30, 2019

John Lewis Partnership sales figures seem to see-saw wildly during March and April in some years as the timing of Easter plays havoc with usual seasonal patterns of consumer spending.


John Lewis



And that was clear in the latest week as the company said that its total sales fell 8.4% to £197.97 million. But much of that was caused by its Waitrose supermarkets, which dropped as much as 10.2%.

Yet the John Lewis department stores chain fell too, albeit by a smaller 5.3% as the company’s stores stayed closed on Easter Sunday.

Unfortunately, the usually buoyant Fashion department saw its sales falling 9.5%, dented by the fact that even on the days that the stores were open, most consumers preferred to get out and about in the unexpectedly warm Easter weather rather than going shopping. The fashion hit also came as the company had been boosting sales a year ago by matching competitor promotional activity.

However, some areas of womenswear accessories performed well with customers buying sunglasses and summer shoes. The John Lewis & Partners sunshine yellow trench coat also proved very popular, with sales up 89% on the week before.

But Home department sales were down 6.8% although cookware was up 6% as customers enjoyed shopping Easter promotions. Electrical and Home Technology sales were up 1.5% with communication tech performing particularly well, up 6%. And small electrical products were also popular, up 15.8% with strong demand for the Dyson Air Wrap.

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.