John Lewis and Waitrose recorded a jump in sales last week boosted by the sunny spring weather.
John Lewis sales increased 6.5% to £70m in the week to March 22 despite tough comparables due to the later fall of Easter this year.
The department store retailer said “several” stores including Chester, High Wycombe and Solihull experienced double-digit growth.
John Lewis online director Mark Lewis said: “The shift in the fall of Easter set a challenging context for our shops resulting in comparable sales to last year in the like-for-like stores. Considering the reduced footfall, a good performance overall.”
Online sales surged 24.3% in the week and traffic and conversions grew against last year, pnarticularly across m-commerce. A third of all online sales were click-and-collect, while the number of click-and-collect orders collected at Waitrose soared 80%. Online sales in stores increased 35%, added Lewis.
Sales rose 10.1% across the electricals and home technology category and John Lewis recorded “consistent” growth across small and large electricals.Computing performed well due to the three-year guarantee on Apple computers.
Fashion’s performance was “pleasing” with sales up 8.5% and with Mother’s Day on Sunday beauty and haberdashery did well. Home recorded its second highest week’s trade of the year as sales increased 0.5%.
Waitrose sales, excluding petrol, advanced 3.4% in the week to £122m as the grocer said the sunny weather at the beginning of the week boosted sales to trends usually seen in summer.
Ice cream sales increased 23%, soft fruit sales were up 29% and sales of barbeque meats increased by almost 14%.
Gardening also performed well with compost sales up 38%, bulbs up 30% and houseplants blooming by 26%
Waitrose.com surged by almost 70% year on year.
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