John Lewis has launched its online Christmas store earlier than ever after searches for festive items on its website shot up 370 per cent.
The department store opened its online Christmas store on Monday, more than four months before Christmas day and ten days before it launched the store last year, beating rival department stores Selfridges and Liberty to the punch.
This was reportedly a direct response to a dramatic spike in searches for festive items like Christmas trees, cards, wrapping paper and baubles on its website.
It attributed this unseasonably early interest in Christmas, which also saw a 42 per cent jump in searches for Christmas food on Waitrose website during July and August, to lockdown.
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“Christmas celebrations mostly take place in our homes and we have seen how the lockdown has made people think more about their homes, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that people are already thinking about how they will decorate their homes this Christmas,” John Lewis’ Christmas buyer Jason Billings-Cray said.
“From the hundreds of emails from customers asking to be alerted when specific decorations become available it looks as if animal baubles will be the most popular this year with peacocks, squirrels and toucans topping the list of most wanted.”
While this is “the earliest we have ever launched our online Christmas shop”, John Lewis added that Christmas items won’t be available in bricks-and-mortar stores until September 25, or September 10 for Waitrose.
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2 Comments. Leave new
This says more about stock levels than meeting demand. Let’s just hope that this year they are not going to spend £ millions on a TV campaign to launch Christmas. In this “new normal” such extravagance would not go down well.
Stock levels in what way? You think they have too much or not enough?
Regarding the advert, I think that it has become something people look forward to and will be familiar to have going out. As long as it’s cheerful and upbeat!