John Lewis sales edge up but fashion and beauty are stronger

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 5, 2017

John Lewis didn’t share a lot of information about its weekly sales on Tuesday but at least we know that the company has managed to stay in the black with its sales in the seven days to December 2 up 3.4% to £177.88 million.

That rise comes on top of an overall increase during the week leading up to and including Black Friday and must be welcome news after the company suffered with its UK retail sector peers during an October and early November period that was patchy at best.

The best-performing directory for the chain was electricals and home technology, where sales were up 7.1%, driven by high demand in gaming and wearable tech. Mobile sales were also up as demand for the iPhone X and iPhone 8 continued.

But the Fashion directory also managed an increase, albeit only a slim one of 1.7%.

That was boosted by strong sales in beauty, wellbeing and leisure, which rose a healthy 5%, and womenswear, which was up an almost-as-good 4.6%.  

The company also said that as colder weather sets in, John Lewis’s womenswear cashmere had record sales, up 24%. That continued cashmere’s recent strong run and showed that UK consumers are finally happy to buy cold weather clothing after early autumn had proved to be too mild to generate much interest.