John Lewis today said sales fell back by 10% in the week directly following Black Friday as sales on what’s become a day of discounts overshadowed Cyber Monday, which has in previous years been the peak online shopping day in the run up to Christmas.
The multichannel department store retailer’s sales of £160m in the week to December 6 were 10.8% ahead of the equivalent week last year, but 10.6% behind the week before, in which Black Friday fell. That was the case even though the week included Cyber Monday, the name given to the first Monday in December.
Sales on johnlewis.com were 32.2% ahead of the same week last year. On Sunday November 30 between 8pm and 9pm, they were 30% ahead of the same time in the previous week as, said John Lewis, customers continued “to browse for great deals.”
Paula Nickolds, buying and brand director, said: “Another strong week of sales sees the business in good shape, with momentum building in the final weeks before Christmas.”
She added: “Looking ahead, our teams in our shops and online operations are ready for another busy week as we hit the first full week in December.”
