John Lewis boosted by SS18 drops in latest week

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 27, 2018

John lewis Partnership’s total sales rose 2.1% to almost £204 million in the week to February 24, but its Waitrose supermarkets were the top performers with a 3.1% uplift. The John Lewis department stores chain and website saw a slimmer increase, rising a paltry 0.3%.

And that was partly down to anaemic Fashion directory sales. In previous weeks, fashion has been a major sales driver. But this time round it was up only 0.4%. 

Could that have been affected by very cold weather in the UK that might have dented enthusiasm for new season merchandise? Well, it seems not. We would expect consumers to start thinking seriously about warmer weather clothing and accessories by late February as temperatures get milder and so they did. Even a temperature dip didn’t seem to dent enthusiasm for the new-in offer.

The company said that womenswear sales continued to have a standout performance with sales up 6.3% “due to customers beginning to buy items for their spring/summer wardrobes.”

Of course, that also means the some other areas were much weaker, but John Lewis didn’t share information about what and by how much they were down.

But it did say that Home continued its weak run with a drop of 0.8%. The strongest areas in this category were furniture and flooring sales (up 3.3%). However, its 2018 spring/summer outdoor furniture range went on sale last week and achieved a record launch period. And demand for Easter gifts and cards is driving sales in gift food and stationery.