John Lewis recorded increased sales last week as womenswear and mobile phones drove strong performance across fashion and electricals.

The department store chain’s sales rose 6.7% to £91m in the week to October 22.

Fashion enjoyed a 10.3% jump in sales, driven by a 21.4% leap in womenswear sales as colder weather triggered increased sales of seasonal clothing items.

Sales of electrical and home technology items recorded an 8.7% increase, bolstered by sales of mobile products.

Headphones also continued to fly off the shelves, with sales up 71%.

Home items reported a 2.3% sales increase, driven by purchases of big ticket items.

Sister retailer Waitrose’s sales dipped 1% to £123.9m, which the retailer attributed to strong year-on-year comparatives.

Despite the decline in sales overall the supermarket reported strong sales of prepared fruit, up 21%.

With Christmas around the corner, the grocer also reported a 48% increase in advance orders for turkeys.

Across the partnership, total sales were up 2.1% to £214.7m.

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