UK department store chain John Lewis expects traffic from mobile phones, tablets will overtake that from desktops on Christmas Day; mobile accounts for 40% of traffic to johnlewis.com, is up 115% year-over-year

Cindy Allen

LONDON , October 24, 2013 (press release) – John Lewis predicts that this year will be the UK's first 'mobile Christmas' with traffic from mobile phones and tablets overtaking that from desktops for the first time on Christmas Day itself. Mobile made up almost 50 per cent of all traffic to johnlewis.com on 25 December 2012 and the retailer expects that mobile will overtake desktop traffic at 5pm on Christmas Day this year. The prediction coincides with the launch of John Lewis's new transactional iPad app.

Mark Lewis, online director, John Lewis said: 'Mobile is set to be the shining star of Christmas 2013. Shopping is becoming much more of a social experience with people browsing, purchasing and sharing ideas with others using their mobile phones and tablets. We expect this to increase dramatically during the festive period as customers shop on the go and we anticipate that Christmas Day will be the tipping point for mobile.'

New stats from John Lewis [1] reveal how we've become a nation of mobile shoppers:

The peak hour for mobile traffic on Christmas Day 2012 was 9pm.

The busiest day on mobile last year was 26 December, with over 920,000 visits. Over 1 million visits are estimated for this Boxing Day which will be a new record for mobile.

Mobile now accounts for over 40 per cent per cent of traffic to johnlewis.com and traffic is up over 115 per cent year on year.

The busiest time for mobile traffic is 10pm.

Fashion in particular has seen a significant increase in customers shopping via their mobiles, with 78 per cent of total sales in the category now completed on a mobile device.

Mark Lewis continued: 'Although customers are more likely to shop for lower value items on mobile devices, there are a significant proportion of customers purchasing big-ticket items. In fact the most expensive item we've sold on the mobile site was a £7,000 television.'

This year, new technology from John Lewis will include a transactional app for the iPad which will bring rich content from the retailer's magazine and catalogues to the shopping environment. John Lewis's iPhone app relaunched this autumn and allows customers to check its Never Knowingly Undersold commitment and read ratings and reviews. John Lewis also introduced WiFi in all its shops to make it easier for customers to browse the web.

Mark Lewis said: 'We know that our customers shop using many channels and over the last 12 months we have seen a significant increase in sales via mobile devices. Our aim is to create a seamless shopping experience for customers, whether that is in-store, online or mobile and our iPad app fits with our leading omni-channel strategy.'
Notes to editors

The John Lewis Partnership - The John Lewis Partnership operates 39 John Lewis shops across the UK (30 department stores and 9 John Lewis at home), johnlewis.com, 299 Waitrose shops, waitrose.com and business to business contracts in the UK and abroad. The business has annual gross sales of over £9.5bn. It is the UK's largest example of worker co-ownership where all 85,500 staff are Partners in the business.

John Lewis - John Lewis, 'Retailer of the Year 2013'¹ , 'The Nation's Best Retailer'² and 'Best Retailer 2013'³, typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores. The website stocks over 200,000 products focused on the best of fashion, beauty, home and giftware and electrical items including online exclusives. johnlewis.com is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK. (www.johnlewis.com). John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products - home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover - delivering the usual values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.

¹ Oracle Retail Week Awards 2013
² Verdict Consumer Satisfaction Awards 2013
³ Which? Awards 2013
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