John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said today that it had enjoyed a strong Christmas, underpinned by significant investment in its distribution and IT capability.
Total sales at the partnership, which comprises John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, in the six weeks to January 2 2016 were up 4.1% from the same period in 2014 to £1,811.1m.

Gross sales at John Lewis department stores were £951.3m, up 6.9% and up 5.1% on a like-for-like basis. All three product areas - home, fashion and technology - contributed well.

Online sales were up 21.4%, representing 40% of sales, and mobile continued to be the fastest-growing channel, with sales from smartphones and tablets up 31%. Sales through click and collect were up 16% and it was the delivery method of choice for half of all online orders.

However, patterns of trade shifted significantly, with three distinct sales peaks - Black Friday, Christmas and Clearance - with higher sales and a different channel mix for each peak.

For example, on the Black Friday weekend 18% more parcels were processed than in the previous year, which equated to five units per second during the peak hour.

At Waitrose sales rose 1.2% to £859.8m but fell 1.4% like for like.

Commenting on the figures, JLP chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield said: "This has been a strong Christmas trading period for the partnership despite the non-food market seeing significant shifts in trade patterns and the grocery market continuing to be challenging.

"Click and collect continued to show the strength of our two brands working together as a proposition for customers, with 35% of John Lewis online orders collected from Waitrose branches. I was particularly pleased to see overall customer numbers increase 5.8% against the same period last year.

"Our performance reflects to a large extent the significant investment we have made in our distribution and IT capability. Despite the fact trade was even more concentrated across a number of very busy shopping days, our operations performed especially well."