According to research from the retail consultancy Conlumino conducted on 30 December 59% of consumers expect to cut their spending in the next six months and almost 50% think the economy will get worse in the first half of the year. With all the rain we have been having in the UK and the talk of recession there is much doom and gloom in the air. But let’s start the year on a positive note to set the tone for 2013. Not everyone is suffering in retailing. John Lewis Partnership is a great example having just announced double digit sales increases over the festive period, with electrical goods and home technology up a staggering 30.9%. Compared with two years ago, total sales were up 25.5% and like-for-like sales grew by 20.1%. Online sales were up 44.3% on last year and the website now accounts for a quarter of the total firm's business. The firm’s success can be attributed to their staff, outstanding service and the products they offer.  The partnership has invested in technology to save money, increase sales and provide a better service to their customers. Home delivery is an important area as it has the potential to increase costs significantly and can be a source of much customer dissatisfaction.  John Lewis Partnership have used dynamic booking and scheduling to stay one step ahead of the game in deliveries, saving 1.5m delivery miles per year and increasing sales of additional services by 500%. This video gives an insight as to how they did it. Sometimes we are in danger of talking ourselves into recession. There are some great examples of companies doing fantastic things in these tough economic times … so what can we all learn from them?