John Lewis sales down as shoppers wait for Black Friday

Sales at the department store chain fell 2.6% to £114.16m in the week to 19 November, the 16th week of its half year.

In those 16 weeks, sales rose 3.7% compared to 2015.

Shop trade director Maggie Porteous said: “With five weeks to go to Christmas people are beginning to decorate their homes, but seem to be waiting for the Black Friday deals to do much of their gift buying.”

Electricals lose sales power

In the Black Friday centric area of electrical and home technology, sales plummeted 8.2%.

Home sales nudged up 0.6%, with furniture rising 3.2% and home accessories and gifts up 1.8%.

Fashion sales dropped 0.4%, although womenswear performed strongly, with sales soaring 9.5%.

The merchandise associated with John Lewis’ Christmas advert, unveiled two weeks ago, was among the top ten bestsellers of the week.

Christmas homewares soar at Waitrose

Sales were flat at sister retailer Waitrose, standing at £131.68m. They rose 2.7% for the 16 weeks as a whole.

Within that, Christmas homeware sales soared 30%, helping the home and general merchandise category to grow 12%.

Supply chain director Wim Van Aalst said: “Customers are beginning to prepare for Christmas, with promotions driving sales of crackers, Christmas puddings and seasonal biscuit tins.

“Turkey and frozen party food sales were also up 15% and 28% respectively, as shoppers begin to pick up those all-important festive food essentials.”

Waitrose Christmas advert merchandise also performed well. Children’s author Michael Morpurgo’s novel Coming Home, written for the advert, is among the bestsellers.

Overall, sales dropped 1.2% to £245.83m in the 16th week, but rose 3.1% in the 16 weeks.