John Lewis womenswear reaps benefits from cooler weather

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 18, 2016

Customers are now firmly in autumn buying mode as the UK weather continues to cool, department store and online retailer John Lewis said Tuesday.

The mid-market giant said its total sales rose a healthy 8.5% year-on-year in the seven days to October 15, reaching £90.6m.

The chain appears to have left earlier sluggishness caused by warmer weather in September behind. It said that fashion sales rose 7.7% year-on-year in the latest week.

Cool weather clothing in particular proved popular and rose 12% with the company saying that customers reacted to the drop in temperature by purchasing items of clothing to wrap up warm in.

Womenswear alone had what the firm described as “a successful week”, rising an even stronger 16.6%.

Beauty was also buoyant, rising 10.7%, helped by Charlotte Tilbury opening at John Lewis Cambridge.

But home sales were more challenging and finished the week down marginally by 0.5%. However, within home, the lighting category saw a strong sales rise of 6.4% driven by customers turning their attention to new lighting ideas as the evenings become darker.