Royal wedding and sunshine boost John Lewis

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 9, 2018

Did the warmer weather in the past seven days help John Lewis sales to rise? That was the big question as the retailer released its weekly figures a day later than usual due to this week’s public holiday.

And the answer? Yes, of course. The department store chain’s parent company saw sales rising 4% to £219.85 million, including its Waitrose supermarkets, although John Lewis itself saw sales rising only 1%.

The company said turnover was up due to customers buying products for the warm weather and enjoying offers as it price matched a competitor’s promotion and it added that it’s also seeing very strong demand for royal wedding-related products.  

Fashion was among the stronger categories with sales up 4.3% while womenswear advanced as much as 9.2% and sales of women’s accessories were up 6.8%. Given the sunny weather, it’s no surprise that sunglasses were a star performer and they leapt by 20%. Sales of Beauty, Wellbeing and Leisure products were up 5.5%.

But the Home directory remained sluggish with its sales down 0.6%. However, sales of furniture and flooring were up 14.8%. Sales of seasonal home products were up 20%, primarily due to strong demand for inflatable products bought by customers planning to enjoy the hot weather.