Winter chill heats up John Lewis fashion sales

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 23, 2018

Fashion has had a good seven days at John Lewis as the chilly weather across the UK spurred it to a 7.7% rise. That easily outstripped the 2.6% overall increase to £79.4 million at the physical stores chain and webstore.

The company said that it saw “a particularly strong performance in cold weather clothing” and that was certainly true as the category rose 22%. But own-brand also did well, rising 5%.

And the company has plenty of newness to propel sales forward in the the weeks and months ahead as this week marks the launch of Boden childrenswear in six of its shops and online,. This follows the launch of Boden womenswear in September last year. 

But it wasn’t all good news. Home sales were down 0.5% although furniture sales were up 1.9% driven by fitted furniture (up an impressive 19%) and made-to-order (rising an even-more-impressive 21%). In the last week of the firm’s clearance sale, gift food seasonal sales were up 7%.

Electrical and Home Technology sales rose 2.6% “with standout performances in wearable technology as sales shifted from fitness watches to fitness trackers while the January well-being trend continues.,” the company said.