Interview “The really positive thing is that our customer profile


almost matches the national profile, except among 18-24 year olds, where we are under-represented,” he adds.


Collection clicks Part of John Lewis’ multichannel success has been down to its ability to recruit its store-based partners to the cause. While a few years ago some thought the website “stole trade” from their stores, Street says as co-owners of the business they understand why it is crucial to the business’ future success. Specific initiatives including training partners so they can


The really positive thing is that our customer profile almost matches the national profile Andy Street, John Lewis


assist customers ordering from the site for the first time in-store, and attributing online sales to stores by catchment area have helped with the cultural change. Click and collect is also a very visible reminder to partners that the web helps drive traffic to their stores. “Click and collect has been a remarkable success, and particularly our partnership with Waitrose.” He explains that more than 100 stores have John Lewis click-and-collect points, and he reveals plans to get the service up and running in 100 more Waitrose stores this year. He adds that this alternative fulfilment channel for Johnlewis.com is seen by the business as a real driver for online growth. While the Partnership remains committed to opening stores in areas where it is absent, there are many smaller towns with a catchment that cannot support a department store but where there is demand for the John Lewis offer. Some 130,000 products on the site can be ordered for delivery to a store, and all orders placed before 7pm should be available after 2pm in the nominated John Lewis or Waitrose store the following day. Click and collect accounts for more than 20% of all dot com


orders, and is growing at twice the rate of its overall online sales. Importantly for a business with the long-term outlook that John Lewis likes to take, click and collect is also the retailer’s service that its customers say they are most likely to recommend to others. Meanwhile, the web has also allowed the retailer to expand


its customer base geographically, with the dot com operation now serving 33 countries. Also well received is the retailer’s mobile website and iPhone app. Street explains that customers are using the mobile channel while commuting to make some substantial purchases. The benefits of allowing customers to interact online when they are away from a desktop computer are clear to see from the retailer’s Christmas trading figures. Visits to the site from mobile phones on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2011 were up 127% on the year before, and sales were up 65%. Virtual window displays were also set up in seven stores on


these days so iPhone users could scan barcodes of clearance items and be taken straight to the mobile site where they could complete the purchase. To make life easier for customers who want to use their


own devices while in store, John Lewis is also taking the bold move of offering free Wi-Fi in all of its stores. While a few years ago retailers were scared by the idea of customers coming to their stores and then running price checks on their mobile phone, John Lewis is of the opinion that giving


8 spring 2012


customers easy access to information in-store is a good thing. Statistics such as the one Street gives for the in-store purchases that are researched online first likely helps to back up the business case for this development.


Store support With only 29 department stores plus six At Home stores, the physical offer is far from being overlooked in terms of innova- tion and development. “We’ve still got big gaps of white space around the country,” confirms Street. He is excited about the opening of the John Lewis Exeter


store later this year. The retailer initially planned to open an At Home store in the city but, after working with Land Securities, which owns the Sidwell Street site, was able to negotiate the release of more selling space to open what it describes as its first “bespoke” department store. It will stock fashion, home and consumer electronics ranges. “It is smaller, with a clever design so we can increase the


density of stock, and it is multichannel,” he says, adding that he doesn’t want to give away all the store’s special features just yet. However, he does reveal that some of the multichannel elements of the retailer’s At Home stores that have worked particularly well will be rolled out to the Exeter and Birmingham stores too. The new format department stores such as Exeter fit in between its standard-size department stores (which average 132,000 sq ft) and its At Home format (which averages 40,000 sq ft), and will be between 60,000 sq ft and 100,000


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