John Lewis sales fall as Fashion and Home falter

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 28, 2017

The week to 25 February 2017 saw a 3.1% decline in sales at John Lewis, dragged down by a fall of 7.8% in Fashion sales as the comparable period included a special price promotion action which was not repeated this year.

Sales fell from £76.76m to £74.40m in the 7-day period, however there were rises in EHT sales (up 2.5% driven by Audio and Connected Home as well as Mobile phones) and some areas of Home such as Bed and Bedroom furniture (up 13.8%), bed linen (up 6.5%) and duvets and pillows (up 5.2%).

The overall Home category, however, also experienced a decline, impacted by the comparison to last year's promotion in some categories where branded products feature. Home sales were down 4.2% year-on-year.

And while the promotional campaign dented the overall Fashion sales, John Lewis said its own-brand designer collaborations including Somerset by Alice Temperley and Bruce by Bruce Oldfield were up on the year.

Elsewhere in the Fashion area, sales of toys increased by 11.5% and girls’ clothing was up 2.3% as term began again for many schools.