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John Lewis Waitrose

Omnichannel capability was "key" to reaching £10bn sales mark, says John Lewis chairman

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

March 6, 2014 | 2 min read

The John Lewis Partnership, the parent company for John Lewis and Waitrose, has revealed that revenue topped £9bn - £5.75bn for Waitrose and £3.27bn for John Lewis - at the end of its 2013/14 financial year. Combined, it has for the first time achieved sales of over £10bn.

In a statement Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis Partnership, said that “omni-channel capability and innovation has been the key to success”.

Indeed, Waitrose saw total online services gross sales of £262m, with Waitrose.com grocery gross sales up 41.4 per cent.

Similarly, johnlewis.com gross sales grew 19.2 per cent, up £184m, while its Click & collect service grew by 57 per cent.

Overall, Waitrose gross sales increased by 5.1 per cent and John Lewis gross sales are 5.7 per cent higher than last year, passing the £4bn mark for the first time.

“There are fundamental changes taking place in retail, especially in customer attitudes towards value, convenience and personalisation. For several years we have been adapting our business to take advantage of these changes,” he said.

“Innovation in product and service continues to be vital in today's market and there have been great examples of that in Waitrose and John Lewis. We have improved our omni-channel offer significantly with new online platforms for both brands and expansion of the hugely popular Click & collect service."

He added: “We continued to invest in our online business, improving the shopping experience with a new look for the site, making it more tablet-friendly, and easier to register, navigate and search for products.

“We continue to exploit new technology including equipping our Partners with transactional tablets, and we are the first major department store to use Google to map the inside of our Oxford Street shop.”

Mayfield also noted the “huge success” of 'The Bear and the Hare' Christmas advertising campaign which pulled in over 12 million views on YouTube.

As a result of the performance, 91,000 Partners will receive a bonus of 15 per cent, equivalent to nearly eight weeks' pay.

John Lewis Waitrose

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