John Lewis online sales rose by 44% on last year

John Lewis Christmas sales results indicate that the department store chain has had a fruitful festive period while posting 13% rise in December like-for-like sales, as compared with last year’s boosted by in-store and online businesses.  John Lewis reported a whooping 44% rise in online sales this year crossing the £800m mark, with electrical goods sales up by 31%.

The department store chain reported record sales of £158m in the week leading up to Christmas, breaking the £150m barrier for the first time. John Lewis also reported record sales of £31.7m on the first day of its post-Christmas sales on December 27. The retailer said its fashion and beauty department sales climbed 10%, while  its home furnishings section only increased by 6.2%.

John Lewis like-for-like sales in December exclude the new stores that were opened during 2012 - three John Lewis at home shops and one department store. Compared with two years ago, John Lewis said that the total sales were up 25.5% and like-for-like sales grew by 20.1%.

Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail analysts Conlumino, said that John Lewis results were unequalled by other retailers. He said, “A stellar set of figures from John Lewis kicks off the trading update season and sets an extremely high bar that most other retailers will struggle to match. By any standards, this is an impressive performance, but when the general trading environment over Christmas is taken into account it underlines the fact that John Lewis is outperforming the market by a very significant degree.”