John Lewis unveils in-depth insight into its customers' shopping habits

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John Lewis has delved into a year’s worth of sales data and consumer insight to reveal its first-ever detailed report on its customers shopping habits, and found the TV hit The Great British Bake Off led to soaring sales of kitchenware.

In the report, How We Shop, Live and Look, the department store group provides insight into the way its customers shop and what the big sales hits of the past year have been.

John Lewis said it had grown its customer base by one million in the past year and rather contrary to perceptions that the retailer appeals to an older demographic, just 28% of its customers are over 55. Some 39% of its shoppers are under 34 years old.

The findings highlighted just how influential events and TV shows are on shopping purchases. Sales of food mixers soared 62% and cake cooling racks rose 70% during the airing of TV hit The Great British Bake Off. John Lewis said the horsemeat scandal sent sales of a £35 plastic mincer rocketing 48% year on year.

The report looked closely at online shopping behaviour and found that typically traffic from smartphones reaches a peak at 9am, while the desktop is used to visit the site until roughly 4pm. It said visits to its website on tablets peak at 9pm and during ad breaks.

The most expensive product bought on its mobile site was a £7,000 TV.

The three most popular searches on its website in the past year were Ted Baker, iPad and Cath Kidston.

John Lewis, the second-largest retailer in the UK home market, found that from August to October this year, petite sofas sold almost half the amount they did in the whole of 2012.

John Lewis managing director Andy Street said: “Since 1919, we have released our weekly trading updates to the general public. With our 150^th anniversary approaching, our first ever How We Shop, Live and Look report provides an even richer analysis of the products and channels favoured by the nation, their peculiarities and preferences.

“By opening this data up to the public, we hope to offer some real sociological insights, which people can turn to in years to come for a nostalgic glimpse of how we shopped, lived and looked.”

The retailer found that sales of coloured jeans, e-readers, three-piece suites and 3D TVs had dropped this year.