John Lewis bucks retail woes with festive sales increase
John Lewis has bucked retail troubles reporting a total sales increase of 1.8% for the week to 15 December.
The retailer blamed the rise on price-matching discounts and increased business from Christmas shoppers. The rise has defied trends elsewhere in the retail sector, where companies such as Asos have issued profit warnings for the festive period.
Fashion sales saw a significant increase of 9.3% during the penultimate shopping week before Christmas. Beauty, wellbeing and leisure sales rose by 15.7%, while menswear saw a jump of 7.2%, womenswear rose even further by 8.5%.
John Lewis’s sales increase follows several weeks of declining profit with the retailer unable to keep up following a record Black Friday which saw a 7.7% rise in sales. In September, the chain reported a 99% profit fall, with chairman Charlie Mayfield describing the market as the “most promotional we’ve seen in almost a decade”.
