Waitrose outperforms John Lewis as home sales stall

Sales at Waitrose climbed 3% year-over-year to £151.2m, boosted by strong beverage sales.

Waitrose’s range of wines, as well as mixers and fizzy drinks, were among the most popular products, up 15%.

Although Christmas tree and decoration sales spiked, up 14% from 2016, overall revenues in the home and general merchandise categories fell 5.6% year-on-year.

At John Lewis department stores, sales edged up 0.1% year-on-year to £151.9m.

Heating products and coffee machines emerged as cold weather favourites, up 23% and 40%, respectively.

Mobile technology remained the fastest-growing sub-category – sales advanced 47% year-on-year as the iPhone 10 performed well. Sales of electricals and technology overall grew 1.4% year-on-year.

Sales of home goods however, took a tumble, and fell 1.4% despite strong sales of Cookshop products and bed linen.

Fashion sales edged up 0.5% over the week.

In clothing, cashmere womenswear continued its run from the previous week, up 24% year-on-year. Cold weather gear also recorded a 5% spike as temperatures fell across the UK.

Beauty, wellbeing and leisure were star performers, up 3.6%. Beauty products specifically recorded 7.8% growth in the run-up to the holidays.

The performances brought an overall sales advance for parent John Lewis Partnership of 1.5% year-on-year to £303.1m.