John Lewis Sells A Third Of Its Goods Online Over Christmas

A third of all sales at the John Lewis department store over the festive period were made on its website.

Online sales rose 22.6 per cent in the five weeks to December 28 compared to the same period a year earlier meaning that JohnLewis.com accounted for 31.8 per cent of the retailer's total revenues, according to figures released today. Click and collect orders were a major contributor rising 61.8 per cent.

Total sales at the company increased 7.2 per cent to £734 million. Sales rose 6.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the effect of new stores.

The company hailed the period as a record Christmas outshining rival Debenhams who complained of a weak online performance. Debenhams was forced to rush out a statement earlier this week warning the market that profits in the financial first-half would fall 26 per cent to about £85 million after like-for-like sales increased just 0.1 per cent.

John Lewis managing director Andy Street said: 'This Christmas has seen trade take a different shape to previous years, with an early peak driven by Black Friday and a huge surge in the final 10 days. Many of the big online shopping days and weeks occurred earlier in the period but shops were packed in the last-minute rush on 'manic Monday' [December 23].'

He said: 'The shift to mobile devices for online shopping has been confirmed but the in-store sale is well and truly thriving, as shown by the record first day for Clearance in our shops on 27 December.'

John Lewis said sales at its shops increased 1.2 per cent, stripping out the effect of online.

It said Black Friday - which fell on the last Friday in November - was the biggest ever online day and the week before Christmas was the biggest ever for the whole business breaking £160 million sales for the first time.

Electricals and home technology sales increased 10.7 per cent on last year, fashion and beauty rose 8.5 per cent and home grew 2 per cent.