John Lewis reaps reward of multichannel strategy
John Lewis partnership is hailing its “longstanding focus” on multi-channel operations as a major contributor to a strong performance in the first half of its financial year.
Chairman of the partnership Charlie Mayfield says that multi-channel sales “made a vital contribution to both John Lewis and Waitrose” and the extension of the ‘Click and Collect’ service to all John Lewis and most Waitrose shops paid off.
Online now accounts for 24 per cent of total John Lewis sales while the Click and Collect service has grown 114 per cent across both the department store and Waitrose.
Mayfield also points to the boost to revenue provided by the Diamond Jubilee and the run up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The partnership saw like-for-like sales up 9.2 per cent at the John Lewis retail chain and like-for-like sales up 2.2 per cent at the Waitrose grocery outlets.
Total pre-tax profit for the partnership jumped 59.8 per cent to £144.5m for the half year to 28 July.
Looking ahead Mayfield says: “Consumer demand remains fragile but has stabilised and we continue to see opportunities to grow market share.”
He says that rate of growth will be slower in the second half of the year but like-for-like sales in the first six weeks are up 8.5 per cent for John Lewis and 4.5 per cent for Waitrose, year on year.
John Lewis launches a new television campaign this weekend soundtracked by Paloma Faith covering the INXS song Never Tear Us Apart.
