JOHN Lewis escaped the big chill last week after shoppers turned to its home shopping channels to purchase goods.

Despite the snowfall which saw double-digit declines in like-for-like sales in most of its stores – its Liverpool One shop was among the worst hit, down 26% – the group traded just 1.4% below last year.

This was because online sales at johnlewis.com saw an uplift of 56%, continuing its strong performance during the current financial year, with total sales up 36% approaching the half-year.

Andrew Murphy, director of operational development at John Lewis, said: “Every shop managed to open on every day, although footfall was significantly depressed in many shops through the middle part of the week and a substantial number of trading hours were sacrificed in order to close some branches early on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It is in weeks such as this that our multi-channel offer delivers its ultimate value. With harsh weather restricting many customers to their homes, they turned to their phones and computers in order to make their purchases from us.

“Similarly, branch call centres responded admirably to a surge in call volumes, taking as much as 15% of some branches’ trade.