Waitrose reveals surge in early Christmas shopping
Additionally, searches on Waitrose.com for Christmas gifts and party food are up threefold while searches for Christmas chocolates and desserts have also doubled
Waitrose has reported that 70% of its Christmas delivery slots have been snapped up as customers get ready for the festive season earlier than ever before.
The supermarket’s collection slots are also in demand, with 23 December its most popular day so far as nine out of 10 slots are already filled.
Meanwhile, sales of decorations from the John Lewis Christmas Shop, – which includes baubles, trees and decorations – are up 20% year on year in total.
Single Bauble sales are also up 40% versus last year. Customers are buying other decorations, too, with stockings sales double what they were this time last year and wreaths and garlands up 41%.
Additionally, searches on Waitrose.com for Christmas gifts and party food are up threefold while searches for Christmas chocolates and desserts have also doubled.
The group has now lowered prices 55,000 times across 31,000 products since its new look price match was launched last month. As a result, it’s seeing an average of 89,000 extra visits to JohnLewis.com a day compared with the six weeks before the return of Never Knowingly Undersold, and a 5% leap in visits year on year.
Lisa Cherry, head of Buying for Christmas for John Lewis, said: “We’ve been surprised to see that customers are shopping earlier than ever this year. Sales are significantly up as customers can’t wait to get their hands on some festive sparkle and we see they’re buying with confidence.
“Single baubles are selling like hot cakes and, appropriately, this year’s front runners – fondant fancies and Battenberg slices – wouldn’t be out of place in the bake-off tent. We expect the return of Never Knowingly Undersold to significantly boost trade over the Black Friday period as customers can be confident our prices will be tracked across competitors.”
Maddy Wilson, director of own brand, added: “We’re seeing a huge appetite for Christmas already with online slots filling up faster than ever before and customers stocking up early on our festive treats. Our fantastic Christmas range of over 500 products is in hot demand with volumes up 25 per cent up on this time last year.”
