World Cup helps drive the trend for supersized TVS

GIANT 70in televisions are the new normal, a John Lewis report has found, amid a growing trend of buying the supersize screens for living rooms.

According to the retailer’s annual “How We Shop, Live and Look” report, the size of households’ TV sets has grown by 50 per cent since 2010.

Over the past year sales of 60in sets were up by 249 per cent, while 80in models were up by 200 per cent year on year, it said. The fastest growing width of TV was 70in, suggesting it is fast becoming the new standard size in homes across the UK. Prices of 70in sets range from around £700 through to nearly £4,000 for top models. In 2010 the bestselling set was 36in.

Conversely, sales of under 31in screens were down 34 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Demand for large TV sets was driven mainly by the World Cup in July, John Lewis said, as party hosts hoping for an England win invested in a bigger model to impress guests and ensure no one missed all-important goals.

The rise in oversized televisions comes as the latest tech advances have flopped, potentially leading to consumers opting for size over sophistication. The much-trumpeted 3DTV, for example, died an early death last year, as Samsung, LG and Sony all announced they would stop making them.

As with small televisions, the days of DVD players are also numbered, thanks to rise of streaming. Sales of these tumbled by 40 per cent this year.

Simon Coble, trading director at John Lewis & Partners, said: “It is fascinating to see what trends our customers have fallen in and out of love with this year, and how big events like the World Cup and the royal wedding have such an impact on what we buy.

“How we shop is changing at incredible speed and shops need to combine the very best in service and experiences with unique and fantastic products. And the mobile phone is vital in both as a means to browse and research, but also as a place to buy.”

More customers than ever before are choosing to shop using their smartphone rather than a desktop or tablet. “For the first time, the majority of online shoppers (42 per cent) are visiting our website via their smartphone and the number of orders placed on mobile phones is up by around 35 per cent,” Mr Coble added.

“Customers are also being much more specific about what they are looking for on our site, using more search words and filters to narrow down their options.”