John Lewis reveals the purchasing traits of 2025: From Oasis to summer time heatwaves

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra A scorching summer time, the extremely anticipated Oasis reunion tour, and chronic cost-of-living pressures considerably formed shopper spending this 12 months, in line with John Lewis.

The division retailer's twelfth annual How We Store, Stay And Look report particulars distinct buying patterns throughout its shops and Waitrose supermarkets.

The UK's warmest summer time on file noticed predictable surges in demand for followers, ice cream, and out of doors furnishings.

Nonetheless, an unprecedented 4 main heatwaves prolonged the summer time's affect, resulting in will increase in swimwear gross sales, up 18 per cent in September and 28 per cent in October.

Out of doors cooking tools additionally remained fashionable, with gross sales hovering by 42 per cent in October in comparison with the earlier 12 months.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/11/24/15/22/john-lewis-store.jpeg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/11/24/15/22/john-lewis-store.jpeg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/11/24/15/22/john-lewis-store.jpeg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="The department store's twelfth annual How We Shop, Live And Look report details distinct purchasing patterns across its stores and Waitrose supermarkets" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

The division retailer's twelfth annual How We Store, Stay And Look report particulars distinct buying patterns throughout its shops and Waitrose supermarkets (Getty Photos) Including a nostalgic twist, the announcement of Oasis's Stay '25 41-date reunion tour sparked a notable growth in style. The retailer noticed a 40 per cent rise in gross sales of parkas and bucket hats in the course of the first half of 2025, in comparison with the identical interval a 12 months earlier, as followers ready for the enduring band's return.

Saggy trousers, sheer attire, crop tops and test overshirts drove gross sales spikes in style nostalgia, alongside the return of different 90s-defining acts, together with Pulp at Glastonbury and Radiohead, which launched their first tour in seven years.

A “hit” nostalgia vendor was a Bluetooth speaker within the form of a tape cassette, an merchandise that options prominently on the Netflix present Stranger Issues, which returned to screens for its fifth and remaining sequence in November.

In the meantime, searches for stitching machines had been up 50 per cent on the 12 months earlier than, and a ballot by John Lewis of its clients discovered that simply 38 per cent mentioned they might throw out and change an merchandise of clothes if it grew to become ripped or worn out, and almost half (46 per cent) mentioned they might patch it up themselves.

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Some 29 per cent of these aged 18 to twenty-eight mentioned they often wore one thing greater than 30 years previous, and eight in 10 mentioned they purchased second-hand style.

After Waitrose reported an increase in gross sales of blocks of butter, John Lewis mentioned searches for butter dishes had been up 108 per cent.

Jason Billings Cray, items purchaser at John Lewis, mentioned: “The butter dish is changing into the nation’s new obsession.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/09/17/05/e2056f54b82b4558b81b241c1f68b2f9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU4MTE1Mzk5-2.80985036.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/09/17/05/e2056f54b82b4558b81b241c1f68b2f9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU4MTE1Mzk5-2.80985036.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/09/17/05/e2056f54b82b4558b81b241c1f68b2f9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU4MTE1Mzk5-2.80985036.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Four major heatwaves extended the summer's influence, leading to increases in swimwear sales, up 18 per cent in September and 28 per cent in October" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

4 main heatwaves prolonged the summer time's affect, resulting in will increase in swimwear gross sales, up 18 per cent in September and 28 per cent in October (Ben Birchall/PA) “We’ve seen the ‘butter yellow’ pattern throughout style, magnificence and interiors, and butter boards take over foodie feeds and now this once-humble kitchen staple has firmly entered the highlight.

“We’ve seen an increase in recognition of different conventional kitchen objects too – assume teapots, spoon rests and casserole dishes – however the butter dish is the nation’s subsequent obsession.”

In the meantime, John Lewis stopped promoting sous vide machines, discovering that “right now’s cooks want messy generosity over molecular gastronomy”, mirrored in searches for the gadget falling by 50 per cent in comparison with 2024.

It additionally considerably decreased its inventory of males’s skinny denims, which now make up lower than 5 per cent of its whole denims providing, down from 15 per cent in 2019.

Beth Pettet, head of style manufacturers at John Lewis, mentioned: “We’ve seen our clients transfer to a extra relaxed match. It’s additionally fairly a chic look.”

John Lewis managing director Peter Ruis mentioned: “It’s clear that clients actually embraced color, consolation and enjoyable once more – from large backyard events, 90s tunes on repeat or butter dishes making a comeback.”