John Lewis enjoys its best-ever week

RETAIL giant John Lewis has bucked the gloomy outlook affecting the high street by announcing record sales – and much of the credit goes to last week’s stormy weather.

The store chain recorded takings of £123.5 million, the most the retailer has ever taken in a single week – beating the previous record, achieved in the same week last year by 2 per cent and representing an 8.7 per cent increase on the previous week.

The sudden cold snap and storms are said to have been among the main drivers for sales, with women’s fashions and fashion accessories receiving “a major uplift” in sales.

A spokesman said coats and gloves, cashmere, nightwear, handbags, jewellery and watches were seeing very strong trade.

The company’s website also broke all its records last week, with sales of £28.8 million – almost 20 per cent above its previous record total.

Maggie Porteous, head of selling operations, said of the figures: “We are thrilled to have achieved a new record week. Despite the turbulent economic climate, we can clearly see that our customers are wanting to deliver a perfect Christmas for their friends and family, whether that is finding the right present or finding those extra touches to decorate their homes.

“The atmosphere in all our branches is clearly festive. There is now a real Christmas buzz, and all our partners are pulling out the stops to deliver the levels of advice and service our customers expect from us.”

Ms Porteous said the company’s “price-matching” promise and use of online and store purchasing options had “contributed significantly” to the success.

Retail analyst Chris Field said John Lewis had been suffering along with the rest of the fashion retail sector in recent months, but the worsening weather had arrived at the perfect moment to boost sales.

“The weather was pretty good for such a long time, and that hit the fashion retailers because they had all their winter ranges rolled out and people weren’t buying them,” he said. “But now [with the change in weather] there’s been a bit of catch-up, Christmas has arrived at the same time, so people are in a different space and are saying: ‘OK, I need to buy presents’.”

He added that, theoretically, as a company sitting in the middle market, John Lewis should be suffering during the financial crisis, but its focus on customer service had helped it to buck the trend.

“The simple truth is that there you have a company that has an absolute passionate focus on all the bits of the business that you have to get right,” he said. “Nowadays, it’s about delighting the customer and making the whole customer experience absolutely first-class..

“That doesn’t just mean when they go into the shop, it’s about what they see online, what happens when they are in the store, what happens when they get home and what happens if they want to return an item.

“That joined-up focus on all aspects of the business is why they’re completely successful.”

The figures came as many of the high street big names started their annual end-of-the-year sales early in an attempt to stave off the disaster financial experts are predicting for them this year.

Mr Field said he expected more retailers to go under later this month, when the quarterly rent was due on their stores: “I think some of them are going to say: ‘We just cannot do it’.”

But he added that it was not a given that high street figures were going to be a disaster – that food discounters, such as Aldi, Lidl and Iceland, would do well and, ultimately, the consumer would benefit.

“People say it’s going to be absolutely dreadful, but when the figures come through I think there’s going to be enough good news to buoy up the core retailers,” he said.

“But those retailers that 100 per cent focused on what the customer wants and giving them more than the usual price, quality, value – they’re the ones that will really succeed.”