Apple iPads help John Lewis tap into better sales in run-up to Christmas

The employee-owned company said sales were up 9.9 per cent in the week to last Friday compared with a year before, providing further evidence that British consumers are still shopping despite falling spending power.

Apple’s iPad and other big-ticket items topped customers’ shopping lists.

The news follows official data this week showing UK-wide retail sales grew by 0.6 per cent in September, considerably more than economists had expected.

But the latest survey of consumer confidence by Nationwide showed a fourth successive monthly fall, taking it close to February’s record low.

The downbeat survey underlined the pressures still faced by families, which are struggling with inflation at three-year highs, slow wage growth and unemployment at a 17-year high.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The economy has hardly grown in 2011 and pressure has continued to mount on household budgets.”

John Lewis has outperformed the sector this year. It said weekly sales at Waitrose were up 11.7 per cent on last year, as the colder weather turned customer’s thoughts to Christmas.

It sold 80 per cent more mince pies than in the same week last year and sales of Christmas gifts were up 31 per cent as customers got organised early.

Its department stores posted the best performance during the current half of its financial year, with sales up 7 per cent, which the firm believes may reflect some pent-up demand following the recent warm weather.

Electricals delivered the strongest rise, up 10 per cent on last year thanks to an offer on iPad tablet computers.

It also reported strong results in some big-ticket categories which have recently found recent market conditions tougher, including upholstery and living and dining items.

The growth continued to be driven by online sales, up 36 per cent on last year. None of its individual stores showed growth to match the overall figure.

The Scottish stores all showed modest falls in sales, reflecting a more cautious consumer environment north of the Border.

Figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium revealed a 0.6 per cent drop in like-for-like sales during September, as the group warned retailers are entering a “critical” period in the run-up to Christmas.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Retailers will be desperately hoping that these recent signs that consumers may have more life in them than previously thought continues, particularly as the critical Christmas period is now on the horizon.”

But he said it was hard to be anything other than pretty downbeat about the prospects for consumer spending “for some time to come”.