John Lewis Online Sales Approaching A Third Of Sales

John Lewis Partnership said online sales at its department store business are approaching a third of all turnover after a surge last year.

The retailer said that gross online sales, which includes VAT, grew 19.2 per cent to £1.1 billion compared to £4.06 billion overall sales.

That means sales ex-VAT, the measure which nearly all other retailers report, increased to more than £900 million - a figure which John Lewis has not disclosed - compared to a reported £3.27 billion overall.

That means web sales at the store account for about 28 per cent of sales, a figure that is likely to increase in the next few months.

'We have improved our omni-channel offer significantly with new online platforms for both brands [John Lewis and Waitrose] and expansion of the hugely popular Click & Collect service,' the company said.

Online sales at Waitrose increased to £262 million including VAT - a rise of 41.4 per cent. That translates to around £250 million ex-VAT, which is not applicable to most food products.

Waitrose said in the statement: 'We continue to invest in the [Waitrose.com] business, improving the shopping experience with a new look for the site, making it more tablet-friendly and easier to register, navigate and search for products. In the year we nearly doubled the capacity of our branches to fulfil online orders. We will have the capacity to realise further potential for our online business in the London area when our second dark store opens in Coulsdon later this year.'

The myWaitrose card has also allowed increasing personalisation, it said.