John Lewis sales were up 4.5 per cent in the week ending December 29 amid strong demand on Christmas Eve and “a confident start to post-Christmas clearance both online and in shops”.
However, its official Christmas update is not due until 10 January.
Decent figures from #JohnLewis for sales over weeks to 22 Dec & 29 Dec. Followed lacklustre sales earlier on in December & overall in November. Still unclear picture over #retail #sales over whole of November/December https://t.co/Kk6zNsOLK1 via @financialtimes
— Howard Archer (@HowardArcherUK) January 2, 2019
Fashion sales were up 10.7 per cent on the previous year, with women’s cashmere and accessories performing well, the employee-owned retailer said. Christmas shoppers also spent more on beauty and wellbeing.
John Lewis added that the demand was “very strong” on Christmas Eve, indicating that shoppers had delayed rather than cut spending, and customers were also looking for bargains in its clearance sale, both online and in store.
Sales at Waitrose supermarket chain also rose 19.2 percent in the same week, although the figure was heavily distorted by the fall of Christmas and new year. Sales the prior week were down 11.7 percent.
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