Not all doom and gloom
There was some good news for UK technology retailing today as department store John Lewis announced that sales of electrical and home technology (EHT) were two percent higher than the previous best ever week.
Overall sales were four percent down on this time last year but six percent up on its peak week in 2006. It looks like digital photo frames, digital cameras, satnavs, DVD players and ebooks were among the big sellers, as a John Lewis survey revealed that a third of men named a technology product as their preferred gift.
"With just one more weekend to go now before Christmas, we have seen some very strong trading, particularly in electricals and home technology products, and we expect this trend to continue over the next ten days," said Dan Knowles, director of selling operations at John Lewis.
The John Lewis online operation seems to have been a major factor in this success, with last Monday being a record day for ecommerce in general.
