Further to our Black Friday blog in December, which showed Black Friday breaking records year-on-year, retail giant, John Lewis, have reported record sales in the lead up to Christmas.
John Lewis has reported their Black Friday week brought the company “its biggest trading week on record, with sales up 22%” on 2013. The sales during Black Friday outpaced the week of trading in the run-up to Christmas showing the changing trend in how UK shoppers purchase their holiday gifts. The statistics show that UK shoppers are now more likely to purchase their Christmas presents during the week of Black Friday rather than the week or two before Christmas Day.
Furthermore, John Lewis’ statistics show that during the five week shopping period, “total like-for-like sales rose 4.8% to £777m, with shop sales flat, but online purchases up 19%.” which shows the growth of eCommerce sales once again for a further year. Interestingly John Lewis reported that “Click-and-collect represented 56% of online sales” overtaking home delivery, showing the increasing trend of shoppers browsing/purchasing their products online before coming into the physical store. However Andy Street, John Lewis’ managing director also stresses the importance of a physical store:
“Despite the big jump in online shopping, Mr Street said establishing a physical shop presence was key to winning internet customers, because they frequently browsed products before ordering online.”
In terms of the types of products sold this year, John Lewis reported that electrical and home technology were most popular with a 6.8% year-on-year rise for the Christmas period. Homeware rose 2.3% on 2013 and fashion and beauty were up 7.8%, which was helped by “very strong” online trading.
With the increasing trend of online sales year-on-year, it’s even more important for businesses to guarantee that their eCommerce platform is robust and secure including the use of website statistics, a well designed website and a secure payment gateway UK ensuring the business and customers’ transactions are safe.
