Waitrose sales were boosted by the Great British Bake Off while John Lewis recorded a sales dip during the week ending August 15.

John Lewis weekly sales to August 15

  • Waitrose sales rose 3.1% helped by baking products
  • John Lewis sales dropped 1.9%
  • The department store’s home sales fell 3.8%

Sales at the grocer rose 3.1% excluding petrol to £121.6m as biscuit week on the popular BBC baking competition helped ingredients fly off the shelves.

Almond sales rose 100%, while dried cranberries and star anise sales rose 47% and 43% respectively.

Meanwhile, summer drinks recorded a strong week despite the unpredictable weather as sales of Pimm’s increased 165% year on year.

John Lewis results

Sister retailer John Lewis fared less well as sales fell 1.9% to £73.1m during the week.

In-store sales were hit by the weather but its website remained in growth, up 9.4% year on year.

John Lewis also said the back to school period and “seasonal build up to the bank holiday weekend” are running a week behind this year compared with last year.

Home sales recorded a 3.8% drop, while electrical sales dipped 2.6%.

The best performing product category was fashion, up 0.2% year on year. Within fashion menswear was the strongest category, with sales up 5.9%, and beauty, wellbeing and leisure increased 1.1%.