Own-brand Kin boosts John Lewis weekly sales

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 10, 2018

John Lewis Partnership got a boost from the World Cup and the sunny weather in the latest week as the seven days up until July 7 saw its sales rising 2.5% to reach almost £226 million.

But before we start celebrating, the growth came from its Waitrose supermarkets as barbecue weather drove sales of drinks, snacks and fresh fruit.

The John Lewis department store chain, by contrast, saw its total sales falling 0.3% with the factors that had boosted its sister chain being responsible for the decline.

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The company said that sales were impacted by the very hot weather and the World Cup, although its fashion sales still managed to rise 4.6%. Those sales were driven by clearance offers, by customers shopping for clothing to wear in the hot weather (not something they usually have to seek out unless they’re going on holiday), as well as launches of new season ranges.

That last point is certainly good news and the company said that the popularity of its new season own-brand Kin collection “sent sales of the brand up 88% on the same week last year.”

But the Home directory remained a problem for the company. It has underperformed for some time and in the latest week, sales were down 8.4%. However, the hot weather continued to drive strong sales of outdoor furniture and other weather-related products such as water bottles and low-tog duvets. It also saw customers taking advantage of clearance offers, particularly on dining tables.