John Lewis Partnership’s sales were given a major boost last week as customers flocked to its department store chain to take advantage of Black Friday deals.
For the week ending November 30, overall sales for the parent company of John Lewis and Waitrose surged 29.7 per cent year-on-year, £297.44 million to £385.66 million.
This is an improvement on the 28.4 per cent year-on-year decline recorded the week prior, which was attributed to tough comparisons due to the earlier timing of Black Friday in 2018.
For the year-to-date though, the partnership said sales have so far have declined 1.1 per cent year-on-year.
Driving the partnership’s overall weekly growth was its John Lewis department store chain, which saw sales skyrocket by 60.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis, thanks to Black Friday taking place a week later this year.
When adjusted to compare with the Black Friday period in 2018, sales were up 2.1 per cent – which John Lewis credited as “a new record week of sales”.
John Lewis also highlighted how promotions started earlier this year to reflect Black Friday extending across a longer period – 11 days from November 22 to December 2 compared to last yea’s eight days from November 19 to November 26.
The retailer added that total sales for the first 10 days of this year’s Black Friday event were up 9.5 per cent compared to the similar 10 day period in 2018.
Fashion sales were up 71 per cent compared with the same week last year with a record week of sales across menswear, nursery and beauty.
Home sales were up 18 per cent compared to the same week last year, while electrical and home technology sales soared by 81 per cent compared with the same week in 2018.
The weekly performance at stablemate Waitrose was not as impressive, with sales down 3.9 per cent.
The grocer said this was impacted by Black Friday, which fell in the previous trading week in 2018 and focused consumer attention towards general merchandise.
Waitrose said that ambient sales were down 4.6 per cent, chilled and fresh food sales declined 2.4 per cent, and home and general merchandise sales dropped 6.8 per cent.
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