John Lewis sales fell 1.4% in the week to August 15 with fashion showing resilience despite the good weather keeping shoppers out of the stores for a large part of the week.

While fashion remained flat, the decline in sales of beds, bedroom furniture and white goods showed signs of slowing.

The group’s Cheadle branch capitalised on some product moves to post gains in womenswear and handbags, with beauty also showing growth.

The retailer said traffic to its website continues to rise, particularly in home.

Sales at grocer Waitrose rose 10.4%, boosted by families staying in to cook at home, with home baking ingredients up 20% . Wines enjoyed a “particularly strong” week, with year-on-year sales up by 17%.

John Lewis operational development director Andrew Murphy said: “As ever in this unpredictable summer, the impact of the weather was once again clear to see as the wet end to the week in many areas was reflected in the sales growth we enjoyed on Friday and Saturday. As we move into the new season the need to feature what is new, different and inspiring in our product range becomes more important.”

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