John Lewis has predicted record Christmas sales figures after taking £96 million in the past week alone, the department store chain’s biggest weekly sales total.

Dan Knowles, director of selling operations at John Lewis, said that today was likely to be the biggest online shopping day of the season, while this week would see toy sales peak. But he acknowledged that next year was likely to be more difficult for the retail sector.

A survey released today by Nielsen for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) indicated that consumer confidence was weakening, with almost a third of respondents citing “the economy” as their main concern for the next six months. This is up from 22 per cent in mid2007 and up from 17 per cent at the end of last year.

When asked about their spending intentions, just over a third of respondents believed that now was a “good” or “excellent” time to spend, down from 44 per cent a year ago. The percentage of people intending to put their spare money into savings rose from 32 per cent last year to 38 per cent, indicating that a downturn in spending on new clothes, technology and DIY was likely.

Kevin Hawkins, director-general of the BRC, said: “Retailers are facing a very challenging year. Not only is a severe slowdown in consumer spending likely, but retailers’ share of that spend is set to fall significantly, ratcheting price competition up still further”.

At John Lewis, electricals were the bestsellers of the past week, with a 7 per cent increase on the previous week. Computers, MP3 players and televisions were the most popular items. Sales across the chain’s 26 stores were up 5.2 per cent in the week to December 8, compared with the same week last year, and 11.7 per cent higher than the previous week this year. Last week was John Lewis Direct’s busiest week, with online sales 40 per cent higher than last year.

Mr Knowles said: “Worries about house prices falling might be putting them off selling so they’re doing up the current one, and we’re seeing a rise in sales of furnishings, fabrics, cushions and curtains.”

Not all retailers will enjoy such brisk business, according to Mike Watkins, senior manager of retailer services at Nielsen. “Consumers will be thinking twice about splashing out this Christmas,” he said. “We’re seeing continuing low-level sales growth in the grocery sector, with an increasing reliance on promotion offers to drive business.”

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