John Lewis sale boosts web arm

Bargain hunters helped drive record online traffic for John Lewis last week as the department store chain kicked off its latest clearance event.

The employee-owned firm said its website had its busiest ever hour of trading on Wednesday evening and overall sales in the week to 28 June grew 8.1 per cent to £87 million.

Although demand for televisions did not match the strong growth seen in the run-up to the World Cup, small electricals were up 15 per cent on a year earlier, while sales of audio equipment and video game consoles jumped 31 per cent.

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Among the group’s three Scottish stores, Glasgow was the best performer with a 1.3 per cent gain compared with last year, while takings at Edinburgh edged up 0.2 per cent. However, year-on-year sales at its Aberdeen branch slid 5.5 per cent.