Colder Weather Drives Clothing Sales and Present Purchases

    BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, December 12, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- John Lewis department stores announced today that sales last week (to Saturday 1 December) saw a 9.3% increase on the same week last year with a sterling total of GBP124.2m, the third best week the retailer has ever seen, and an increase of 13.3% on the previous week.

The cold snap during the week boosted not only sales of outerwear, knitwear and UGGs, but also gifts that enable people to use their ever-popular tech products whilst keeping warm. Hearmuffs, which protect ears from the cold whilst listening to music, and touch gloves, which allow you to use a touch screen without exposing your hands to the elements, have been flying off the shelves.

Elsewhere, customers are preparing for the party season with high heels, beauty products and jewellery driving a 8.2% increase across women's accessories. Demand for mini sewing machines shows that crafting continues to be a key trend, both for people making their own Christmas presents as well as being a gift in its own right.

Maggie Porteous, head of selling operations, said: "This week has seen another strong performance and momentum is building as we enter December. All areas from toys, to bedding and ready-made curtains, to tablets are performing very well. As well as buying gifts and getting their homes ready for the festive period, customers are also ensuring they keep warm with cold-weather clothing and heaters selling fast. Online sales soared to GBP37.9m last week, a record week for johnlewis.com and a great result ahead of mega Monday tomorrow when we expect to see another surge in trade."

Top products on the busiest online day are likely to include the iPad mini, Kurio tablets, Sonos wireless music systems and Beats headphones. John Lewis is expecting unprecedented volumes of customers to take advantage of its click & collect service, where shoppers buy online and collect from either a John Lewis or Waitrose branch.

For more information contact:
Louise Cooper
Senior Manager, Corporate, Digital & Branch PR
t: 020 7592 6223
m: 07808 574 117
e: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

The John Lewis Partnership - The John Lewis Partnership operates 39 John Lewis shops across the UK (30 department stores and nine John Lewis at home), johnlewis.com and 287 Waitrose supermarkets. The business has an annual turnover of nearly GBP8.7bn. It is the UK's largest example of worker co-ownership where all 81,000 staff are Partners in the business.

John Lewis - John Lewis, 'Britain's favourite electricals retailer 2012'* and 'Best Multichannel Retailer 2012' **, typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores. The website stocks over 200,000 products focused on the best of fashion, beauty, home and giftware and electrical items including online exclusives. johnlewis.com is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK (www.johnlewis.com). John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products - home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover - delivering the usual values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.

* Verdict Consumer Satisfaction Index, April 2012
** PayPal etail Awards 2012
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