Freezing weather conditions at the start of last week shifted trade at John Lewis-owned Waitrose into the previous week as consumers stocked up.
The upmarket grocer recorded a 5.5% increase in sales on last year to £101.7m in the week to February 11 as fears over snow drove stockpiling. Its sales were up 12% the previous week.
Performance at sister retailer John Lewis was held up by strong online and electrical sales, increasing 43.9% and 9.8% respectively. Overall sales at the department store rose 4.1% to £52.3m.
Sales at the partnership as a whole rose 5% to £153.9m
The start of the week had the biggest snow impact with a -22.3% drop on last year. The remainder of the week saw some “great bounce backs” with Tuesday providing the biggest increase at 12.8%, John Lewis director of selling operations David Barford said.
He added: “The start of the week saw the cold wind of winter bite with snow across much of the east and south of the country but overall we had a positive week – an endorsement of our multichannel approach as customers chose to keep warm and shop online.”
In the branches the biggest uplift came from Poole which recorded a 33.2% increase while Nottingham performed the worst, reporting a 21.9% fall.
Waitrose personnel director Helen Hyde said: “Many customers have been keen to stay one step ahead of the icy weather, stocking up on frozen staples such as chips and frozen vegetables, sales of which are up by 20% and 11%respectively.”
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