Waitrose posted a jump in sales last week following a solid start from waitrosekitchen.com, a new website dedicated to kitchen products.

John Lewis weekly sales to October 24

John Lewis weekly sales to October 24

John Lewis weekly sales to October 24

Sales at the grocer increased 4.2% to £125.2m year on year for the week ending October 24.

Waitrose commercial director Mark Williamson revealed sales at waitrosekitchen.com “performed well in its first week”.

Meanwhile, online grocery sales surged 24% during the week, boosted by a customer promotion.

The darker evenings have also resulted in an increase in take-away style foods. The ‘big night in’ Indian meal promotion proved “particularly popular”, while shoppers also bought 11% more pizzas than the same period last year.

Sister retailer John Lewis revealed it had a strong start to the week as sales grew 2.1% to £85.2m.

Waitrose kitchen

Waitrose Kitchen helped boost sales at the grocer

However, sales dropped back midweek due to the department store being “up against colder weather sales last year”.

Fashion sales were up 5.9% in the week as the Collaborations range surged 48.4%, while furniture sales jumped 7.6%. Once again electricals sales were “challenging” and dipped 4.3%.

John Lewis director of selling for London and the South David Barford added: “The Oxford Street home department refurbishment is delighting our customers from far and wide and the branch has seen an increase in sales from the newly opened areas.”