UK's John Lewis enjoys 4.8 pct Christmas sales rise

LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Sales at Britain's biggestdepartment store group John Lewis rose nearly 5 percentin the five weeks to Dec. 27, driven by the "Black Friday"frenzy at the start of the period and by last-minute Christmasgift-buying at the end.

While sales in the Black Friday discount event were led byelectricals and home technology, the most popular gifts forChristmas included fitness trackers, coffee machines and kitchenappliances, the employee-owned group said on Monday.

Sales in the five-week period hit 777 million pounds ($1.2billion), up 4.8 percent on a like-for-like basis on a yearbefore, driven by a 19 percent jump in online sales.

The jump in online demand meant some 36 percent of all groupsales were conducted via the johnlewis.com website during theChristmas period, with more than half of those being collectedin shops via the "Click & Collect" delivery option.

The company said the standout event had been the success ofits Black Friday promotions, which resulted in record salesduring that week at the end of November, and then a lull beforetrading picked up in the run in Christmas.

"This year confirmed the new shape of trade for Christmas,with an early peak at the end of November driven by Black Fridayand last-minute gift buying," said Managing Director AndyStreet.

The 150-year-old John Lewis outperformed many of its rivalsduring the economic downturn, due to its strong online offering,modern stores and more affluent customer base. The group is oneof the first in the British sector to report on its performancein the weeks running up to Christmas, a key trading period.

Retailer Next said earlier this week it had enjoyeda solid rise in Christmas sales, especially online, withouthaving to resort to the discounting seen on many shoppingstreets.

Updates are due next week from Marks & Spencer andsupermarket groups Tesco and Sainsbury.

For the year ahead, many retailers are more optimistic ontheir prospects given rising incomes and higher employment.

The John Lewis numbers do not include results from theWaitrose supermarket chain which is part of the wider John LewisPartnership. Waitrose on Jan. 2 reported a provisional 6.5percent rise in sales excluding fuel in the two weeks to Dec.27.

($1 = 0.6491 pounds) (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by David Holmes)