John Lewis online sales up, but group-wide sales down

JohnLewis.com opened the second half of its year with a 21.2% rise in sales, though total sales across the department store chain were down by 3.3%, excluding VAT.

Overall, fashion sales were down by 1.4%, home sales down by 2.7% and technology sales up by 0.7%.

John Lewis’ head of multichannel Simon Russell said: “With the British Retail Consortium confirming very tough trading right across the high street, we should be pleased at how we have navigated the difficult trading conditions better than most.”

The rise in ecommerce sales kept up a momentum at that last week saw JohnLewis.com turn in a 27% rise in sales for in the first half of its financial year. Click & Collect sales rose by 87% in the 26 weeks to July 30, compared to the same time last year.

Commenting on today’s weekly results, for the first week of the year to August 6, Russell said multichannel remained key to the business. “It continues to be a team effort with shops and online supporting each other to give customers an inspirational and hassle free shopping experience regardless of how they shop with us right from the research phase through to offering excellent after sales service. After all that’s how most of our customers now shop and we are well placed to offer that seamless experience.”