John Lewis accessories sell well, retailer adds new returns option

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 18, 2019

John Lewis Partnership sales fell slightly in the week up to June 15 dipping by 0.3% to almost £217 million. The Waitrose supermarkets chain underperformed, with its sales falling 2.8%, but the John Lewis department stores chain was stronger. Total sales for the week were up 3.8% year-on-year.

And Fashion department sales were up 7.6% while women’s accessories rose an even better 11.3%. Own-brand fashion continued to turn in good performances with an increase of 7.1%. In fact, the retailer said that new-season Kin products did “particularly well”, which is something of an understatement given that they rose 47%. 

Price-matching competitors through its Never Knowingly Undersold promise also saw John Lewis’s beauty sales going up 26%.

And for the week in question, the troubled Home department saw sales rising 4%. Gift sales were up 17.1%, driven by customers shopping for Father’s Day. 

Electrical and Home Technology sales were down 1.3%, although sales of headphones jumped 54%, driven by a new product launch.

Overall, last week was the biggest ever Father's Day week for customers purchasing gift cards, up 24% year-on-year. 

Meanwhile, the company has also announced that its department store customers will be able to return unwanted purchases via a Waitrose driver when they receive their groceries.

As of this week, the Waitrose driver will process returns from online purchases and start the refund process. There’s no additional charge for using this service.

The new returns option has been introduced following a trial last year, which the company declared a “success”.

While the Waitrose grocery delivery service is smaller than that of some other rival supermarkets at present, John Lewis Partnership said last month that it wants to treble the size of its grocery e-tail operation in the next three years to a value of £1 billion. It's also extending its Rapid Delivery option outside of London for the first time.

Taken together, it means the ability to return online purchases via Waitrose drivers will be available to a lot more consumers in the months and years ahead than at present, delivering a further boost to the appeal of John Lewis’s online offer.