John Lewis broke through the £100m mark for the first time in November last week

The retailer achieved sales of £109.6m in the week to November 24, up 11% on last year and 19.6% on the previous week.

John Lewis said online sales rose 34.6% on last year, particularly driven by “the Black Friday effect”.

The retailer’s website achieved a record-breaking £9m in orders last Friday, taking £105 per second. In addition, overall sales on Saturday were £23.6m in stores - the biggest figure for a day outside Clearance.

John Lewis said electricals delivered a surge in sales. Tablets continued to be sought-after purchases and branches naitonwide also reported strong sales of radios and cameras and a marked increase in sales of coffee making machines. 

John Lewis head of selling operations Maggie Porteous said: “We are extremely pleased to have achieved such a strong uplift in sales. There is no doubt that Christmas sales are really beginning to take off and customers are appreciating that John Lewis is the destination of choice for preparing the home and finding innovative products as well as inspiring gift ideas.

“Our commitment to being Never Knowingly Undersold means that we continue to match competitors’ prices, including during their promotional activity, ensuring that customers can be certain that they will be offered the best value and service at John Lewis.”