Electricals and home technology products were the “stand-out success story” of the week to June 5 for John Lewis.

The department store group, whose weekly figures are viewed as a bellwether for high street sales, reported a 20.6 per cent jump in total sales for the seven days, boosted by an electricals sector performance that soared 26.7 per cent ahead of last year.

“Vision and IT performed exceptionally well,” said John Lewis director of operational development Lesley Ballantyne.

“As World Cup fever reached a crescendo of anticipation, customers splashed out on new flat-screen TVs. Trade was boosted by excellent availability and great value lines supported by promotional activity,” she said.

Ms Ballantyne continued: “Strong sales of cooling products such as the uber trendy Dyson fan suggested that customers are predicting warm weather to come.”

Online sales at johnlewis.com were 53.6 per cent higher than during the same week a year ago, again boosted by strong sales of TVs.

Top performing stores were Knight & Lee in Southsea, Portsmouth (up 34.9 per cent), followed by Leicester (up 32.6 per cent), Trafford (up 31.2 per cent) and Bluewater (up 30.3 per cent).