John Lewis sells a tablet every second

The retailer kick-started its Christmas selling season as sales hit £179.1m for the week ending November 29, up 21.8 per cent on the same period a year ago and 56.8 per cent up on the previous week.

Online weekly sales leapt 42.2 per cent on the year, while a number of its stores achieved record daily takings, including York, Southampton, Liverpool and its flagship store in London’s Oxford Street.

The high street bellwether’s electrical department was the star performer with weekly sales up a record 40.9 per cent.

Samsung big-screen TVs were selling at the rate of one every minute on Black Friday.

The group said bargain-hunting shoppers logged on to its website at midnight on Thursday/Friday night, sending traffic numbers up 300 per cent in the early hours of the morning.