John Lewis and Waitrose are seeing customers getting ready for Christmas earlier than ever before.
Sales of decorations such as baubles from the John Lewis Christmas Shop are up 20% year-on-year, while demand for stockings is double what it was this time last year, and sales of wreaths and garlands have increased 41%.
The retailer noted that the recent return of its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise was helping it attract shoppers. The John Lewis website is now seeing an average of 89,000 extra visits a day compared to the six weeks before the return of the pledge, a 5% increase year-on-year.
Lisa Cherry, Head of Buying for Christmas for John Lewis, said: “We’ve been surprised to see that customers are shopping earlier than ever this year. Sales are significantly up as customers can’t wait to get their hands on some festive sparkle and we see they’re buying with confidence.
“Single baubles are selling like hot cakes and, appropriately, this year’s front runners – fondant fancies and Battenberg slices – wouldn’t be out of place in the bake-off tent.
“We expect the return of Never Knowingly Undersold to significantly boost trade over the Black Friday period as customers can be confident our prices will be tracked across competitors.”
Meanwhile, searches on the Waitrose website for Christmas gifts and party food are up threefold, while searches for Christmas chocolates and desserts have doubled. The supermarket also noted that 70% of Christmas delivery slots for online orders are already filled (up on this time last year), and Collection slots are in strong demand. The most popular day is 23rd December, when nine out of ten slots are already filled.
Maddy Wilson, Director of Own brand at Waitrose, said: “We’re seeing a huge appetite for Christmas already with online slots filling up faster than ever before and customers stocking up early on our festive treats.
“Our fantastic Christmas range of over 500 products is in hot demand with volumes up 25% on this time last year.”
NAM Implications:
- ‘Never knowingly undersold’…
- …goes back to trust in a retailer.
- i.e. no need to second guess by checking rivals…
- …an under-estimated selling advantage in uncertain times.
