PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Retailer John Lewis has grown its Electricals and Home Technology (EHT) business by 11.7 per cent following the launch of its own-brand smart TV.
The news comes as John Lewis delivers its financial report for the half-year ending July 26th 2014. Gross sales were up 9.4 per cent to £1.87 billion in the period, with like-for-like sales up 8.2 per cent.
Operating profit increased by 62.2 per cent to £56.3m.
John Lewis said in a statement the growth in tech was due to two things: "For the first time we introduced a John Lewis own-brand smart TV, and our minimum two-year guarantee commitment continues to be a key differentiator for customers."
Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of John Lewis Partnership [which consists of Waitrose and John Lewis], commented: "Our sales growth was driven by more customers shopping with Waitrose and John Lewis, with customer numbers up by over six per cent and four per cent respectively.
"This reflects the growing appeal of our omni-channel offer across both brands, including the success of Click & Collect, which now accounts for more than half of John Lewis orders placed online, and the popularity of the myWaitrose and my John Lewis programmes, which are encouraging customers to shop more frequently with us across all of our channels.
"Our first half performance has been hard won. I want to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of all Partners,
our co-owners, in achieving these results through a period of significant change, including implementing new
IT systems and adopting new ways of working."
John Lewis added in a statement: "The outlook in the grocery sector remains challenging and we expect that to continue to be the case for some time. In contrast, trading conditions in the non-food sector are more positive than has been the case for several years."
Over the past year John Lewis has performed strongly in the computing and tech market, having beaten the PC decline last year and been voted the top UK electricals retailer in terms of customer service.
Check out PCR’s video interview with John Lewis from earlier this year:
