John Lewis’s extraordinary “hare and bear” advert has sent sales at its stores soaring to a new record.
In the week after the £7 million advert was launched, the company had takings of £101.45 million, 10.7 per cent up on 2012.
It was also the earliest time of year that the group has broken the £100 million weekly sales barrier in the run-up to Christmas.
The bumper figures — covering the week ending 16 November — and strong West End trading have raised hopes of a festive shopping boom for the high street after a run of disappointing Decembers.
John Lewis said its best selling gift was the iPad Air, with one bought every minute last week. Other big sellers include the Lego Friends advent calendar and a tiddlywinks set.
John Lewis bosses also reported huge jumps in demand for KitchenAid food mixers, up 438 per cent on the previous week, a reindeer jumpsuit (398 per cent) and the Krups Nespresso coffee machine (327 per cent). Chris Hooper, head of retail change at John Lewis, said: “If the launch of the Christmas television advert was a sure sign that we are into the Christmas trading period, the fact was fully reinforced by our reaching the £100 million barrier for the first time this year, the earliest week we have delivered this.”
Meanwhile, its sister business Waitrose predicted a “Bake-Off” Christmas as the impact of the BBC Two cooking show pushed sales of sieves, jars, cookie cutters and mixing bowls up by more than 50 per cent.
John Lewis’s record came as figures from retailing body, the New West End Company, showed sales up 5.4 per cent in October in central London.
Chief executive Richard Dickinson said improvements such as the £40 million overhaul of Debenhams’ flagship department store on Oxford Street had helped lure shoppers.
However, retailers have criticised the decision not to close the street to traffic before Christmas — an annual one-day event that has been held since 2005. One store manager said: “When Oxford Street is pedestrianised, we have seen a huge boost in sales, so it is disappointing not to see the same plans introduced this year.”
