Black Friday will be “record day” for John Lewis online orders

Today is going to be a record day for online orders sold via JohnLewis.com and, on current projections, it will be +35% ahead of the busiest day over the Black Friday period last year.

People have shopped on average earlier than in previous years, with record searches this year at +37%. The busiest hour fell on the day Black Friday deals were launched on 20 November, as customers looked in to what deals were on offer earlier.

John Lewis has shipped more than 2.5m products since its Black Friday offers began on 20 November, up 67% up on 2019. Prior to Black Friday itself, the biggest day for orders which can be delivered by one driver was yesterday, 26 November, up 63% on last year - another new record.

The busiest hour on average has been 8pm to 9pm as people shopped earlier than in previous years, with an average of 192 orders per minute. The busiest hour so far was 10am to 11am on the very first day of the Black Friday period, 20 November, with an average of 258 orders per minute as customers sought deals early.

Total one-man deliveries have been up 30% this year, with standard home delivery up 72% and next and named day deliveries up 114%.

Pippa Wicks, Executive Director for John Lewis, said: “This Black Friday period has been like no other with just three of our shops open, but we've worked incredibly hard to meet the significant online demand we've seen this past week, providing our customers with a wide choice of brilliant offers on the products they love.

“We are still offering hundreds of Black Friday deals this weekend and continue to monitor the prices of our high street competitors, meaning that our customers can be sure we offer the best value on the high street throughout the Black Friday period and in the run up to Christmas.

“Preparations are well underway to reopen all of our shops in England next week and we look forward to welcoming our customers to help them make this Christmas extra special.”

The "Give a Little Love" heart shaped red umbrella, which features in the new Christmas TV advert, is the biggest selling "fashion" item so far, followed by an underwear three-pack of Calvin Klein stretch cotton trunks.

Barbour and Hush womenswear have also been in top searches on the fashion front, and best-selling beauty products have been from Molton Brown, Charlotte Tilbury and Chanel.