Sales slowed dramatically at John Lewis for the week to January 15, as the VAT rise kicked in and clearance sales came to an end.
The retailer saw sales rise 4.1% to £55.78m last week - a sharp slowdown compared with the previous week when sales soared 38.7%.

Results for the week to January 8 were boosted by an extra bank holiday and shoppers rushing to beat the imminent VAT rise, with home enjoying a 43% rise in sales and furniture increasing by 47%.

However, last week saw a far more modest 4.9% rise in home sales, with furniture increasing 10.9%.

Online continued its double percentage increases with an impressive 23.2%, although things had slowed compared with the previous week, when online sales went up 42%.