John Lewis opens doors of online Christmas shop

Searches for festive items on the retailer’s website have increased 370%.

John Lewis has opened the doors of its online Christmas store earlier than ever before.

The move – made four months before Christmas Day and ten days before it launched the store in 2019 – comes after John Lewis saw festive searches soar by 370%, reported Charged, retail tech news in association with Retail Gazette.

The retailer has put the unseasonably early interest in festive items – such as Christmas trees, cards, wrapping paper and baubles – down to lockdown. There was also a 42% spike in searches for Christmas food on Waitrose during July and August.

“Christmas celebrations mostly take place in our homes and we have seen how the lockdown has made people think more about their homes, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that people are already thinking about how they will decorate their homes this Christmas,” said Jason Billings-Cray, Christmas buyer at John Lewis.

“From the hundreds of emails from customers asking to be alerted when specific decorations become available it looks as if animal baubles will be the most popular this year with peacocks, squirrels and toucans topping the list of most wanted.”

Christmas items will be available in bricks and mortar John Lewis stores from September 25.

Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.

MORE NEWS
Horrible Histories
 
Rocket Licensing, the licensing agent in the UK and Eire for the popular award-winning children’s history brand Horrible Histories (published by Scholastic), has announced a new Horrible Histories experiential partnership with Leeds Castle in Kent....
Bellas_SaraMiller
 
Sara Miller of Sara Miller London explains why the brand supports the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards....
Bluey
 
Maurizio Distefano Licensing, Italian agent for the BBC Studios’ property Bluey, has announced a busy start to 2025 for the popular animated hit as the Bluey licensing programme continues to grow and production gets under way on the first-ever Bluey feature film for cinemas....
Hello Kitty
 
Sanrio has announced the launch of dedicated Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube channels in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Fans can now enjoy their favourite episodes and special content in their preferred language, making Sanrio’s popular characters more accessible to audiences across India and beyond....
Taiwan
 
This year, Taiwan is making its first-ever appearance at the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/K), presenting a selection of established and emerging IPs to the European market....
BolognaLicAwards_2025
 
The winners of the Bologna Licensing Awards have been crowned during the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids....
Get the latest news sent to your inbox
Subscribe to our daily newsletter

The list doesn't exist! Make sure you have imported the list on the 'Manage List Forms' page.