Cold snap drives surging sales of winter warmers at John Lewis

The current cold snap in the UK may have seen people turning up their thermostats, but it has also driven them into stores to buy anything that will keep them warmer rather than having to heat the entire house.

John Lewis said on Friday that sales of black sheepskin gloves are up by 300% and women’s glove sales overall have risen 67% year on year with sheepskin of all colours particularly popular.

Knitwear sales have also shot up with the retailer’s Zip Neck Sweat and Boucle Jumper achieving bestseller status.

Meanwhile electric throw sales have soared by 500% and thermos flask sales are up 9% compared to last year too.

The heated throw has become the go-to item for those working from home as “customers battle to keep themselves warm in cost-effective ways”. And John Lewis has said that so far, it’s the first must-have item of the year with its entry-price Dreamland heated throw’s sales rising 500% week on week.

Retailers are hugely dependent on the weather al year round and a raft of them have blamed the wrong kind of weather for weak sales early in the AW24 season. A warm September and October was a disaster for many.

But while the cold snap should have helped them shift heavyweight winter warmer items this week, next week could be problematic with temperatures set to soar to as much as 15 degrees Celsius in parts of the country.