It would be nice if the Government could lend the Partnership a hand in bailing them out. They are genuinely the bread and butter of the areas they serve, and it would certainly affect the quality of life for those in their catchment if the high quality shops start closing.
Perhaps Rishi could start a scheme where University students are given jobs to work for them on weekends/summer periods funded by the government like Kickstart?
I always find it slightly weird how they consistently call their employees *partners* yet as soon as anything needs doing they’re happy to cut their jobs and the *partners* get absolutely no say in the matter
Just curious are the “greeters” the only thing they do? Or is that just part of their job. Only asking because they seem totally pointless
They destroyed their price promise – which made them unique and took away reason to use them. Now their employees are being kicked out. It’s like their leaders are inept.
Unfortunately, John Lewis need to rethink their strategy. About 15 years ago I used to shop there a fair bit – 40% of all my purchases – Clothes, electronics, main Christmas presents. A couple of things turned me off:
1) the clothes became very chavy and the fits no longer worked for me. I went to Next that had great fitting clothes and I was shocked at the prices, variety, and quality
2) the people there mostly ignored me even when I asked for help. They seem to have this view of who has money and who does/should not
3) the rise of Amazon means I order everything and it pops up the next day. For electronics and other items this was a godsend as I have no time for shopping as am a workaholic
4) Christmas – 50% from Amazon, 30% from various speciality or direct manufacturers (such as Corgi’s Christmas Coca-Cola Truck), and 20% from Tesco as they are close by
So in summary, their competition is executing very well, their competition has better customer service and the products available. John Lewis seems directionless and needs something that brings in customers again and again. I feel sorry for the partners but markets shift.
Electronics – you need fast free delivery
Fashion – make sure you picked the correct demographic to serve as they will want to buy a lot of their clothes in one place. The size and shape of a demographic differs hence why when people find something that fits and looks good. They tend to return.
Online – this should be the primary delivery channel. Everything should be geared to this and then use stores in a targeted manner for impulse purchases and showcasing high end items unavailable elsewhere.
Stores should be enablement and provide a more streamlined product offering to their primary customer base. Get better at data analytics because the last time I went in, I did not see a lot of shopping bags
How is it that when I go to Next I buy things online, pick them up, and buy several other items walking out? That is a shopping experience. Last few times I have walked through John Lewis and there was nothing I wanted to buy.
I wish John Lewis well.
I rarely go into the city anymore so JL never really crosses my mind.
I tend to shop more at M&S these days and that’s mostly because I find it easier to order stuff online and get it shipped to the local food hall, which is convenient to get to and the delivery is free (although I guess they bank on you buying a few goodies at the food hall!). In some ways I think M&S have been pretty smart to branch out of the city centres and into suburbs/retail parks.
​
Obviously M&S does not do everything JL do, but I think they have a better clothing range.
Fair enough…John Lewis staff look like a donkey’s slapped backside. Not particularly interested in welcoming customers or serving. Sad but true.
It’s really hard to find a bargain there these days. It takes a few seconds to compare the prices on your phone and Amazon almost always has it beat.
I used to enjoy going in searching shelves for returns with ‘clearance’ stickers on them and got some crazy deals few years ago – but now even that’s pointless as most of it is either cheaper online new, or its something that’s not been marked down further for months
Problem is the most British way to shop seems to be to get angry about foreign shop workers but be happy to shop with foreign owned businesses to save a few pennies even if said company has been accused of spying on employees or generally showing anti-employee practices because who cares about fairness when you can get horse meat on the cheap?
9 comments
Former John Lewis and Waitrose Partner here:
It would be nice if the Government could lend the Partnership a hand in bailing them out. They are genuinely the bread and butter of the areas they serve, and it would certainly affect the quality of life for those in their catchment if the high quality shops start closing.
Perhaps Rishi could start a scheme where University students are given jobs to work for them on weekends/summer periods funded by the government like Kickstart?
I always find it slightly weird how they consistently call their employees *partners* yet as soon as anything needs doing they’re happy to cut their jobs and the *partners* get absolutely no say in the matter
Just curious are the “greeters” the only thing they do? Or is that just part of their job. Only asking because they seem totally pointless
They destroyed their price promise – which made them unique and took away reason to use them. Now their employees are being kicked out. It’s like their leaders are inept.
Unfortunately, John Lewis need to rethink their strategy. About 15 years ago I used to shop there a fair bit – 40% of all my purchases – Clothes, electronics, main Christmas presents. A couple of things turned me off:
1) the clothes became very chavy and the fits no longer worked for me. I went to Next that had great fitting clothes and I was shocked at the prices, variety, and quality
2) the people there mostly ignored me even when I asked for help. They seem to have this view of who has money and who does/should not
3) the rise of Amazon means I order everything and it pops up the next day. For electronics and other items this was a godsend as I have no time for shopping as am a workaholic
4) Christmas – 50% from Amazon, 30% from various speciality or direct manufacturers (such as Corgi’s Christmas Coca-Cola Truck), and 20% from Tesco as they are close by
So in summary, their competition is executing very well, their competition has better customer service and the products available. John Lewis seems directionless and needs something that brings in customers again and again. I feel sorry for the partners but markets shift.
Electronics – you need fast free delivery
Fashion – make sure you picked the correct demographic to serve as they will want to buy a lot of their clothes in one place. The size and shape of a demographic differs hence why when people find something that fits and looks good. They tend to return.
Online – this should be the primary delivery channel. Everything should be geared to this and then use stores in a targeted manner for impulse purchases and showcasing high end items unavailable elsewhere.
Stores should be enablement and provide a more streamlined product offering to their primary customer base. Get better at data analytics because the last time I went in, I did not see a lot of shopping bags
How is it that when I go to Next I buy things online, pick them up, and buy several other items walking out? That is a shopping experience. Last few times I have walked through John Lewis and there was nothing I wanted to buy.
I wish John Lewis well.
I rarely go into the city anymore so JL never really crosses my mind.
I tend to shop more at M&S these days and that’s mostly because I find it easier to order stuff online and get it shipped to the local food hall, which is convenient to get to and the delivery is free (although I guess they bank on you buying a few goodies at the food hall!). In some ways I think M&S have been pretty smart to branch out of the city centres and into suburbs/retail parks.
​
Obviously M&S does not do everything JL do, but I think they have a better clothing range.
Fair enough…John Lewis staff look like a donkey’s slapped backside. Not particularly interested in welcoming customers or serving. Sad but true.
It’s really hard to find a bargain there these days. It takes a few seconds to compare the prices on your phone and Amazon almost always has it beat.
I used to enjoy going in searching shelves for returns with ‘clearance’ stickers on them and got some crazy deals few years ago – but now even that’s pointless as most of it is either cheaper online new, or its something that’s not been marked down further for months
Problem is the most British way to shop seems to be to get angry about foreign shop workers but be happy to shop with foreign owned businesses to save a few pennies even if said company has been accused of spying on employees or generally showing anti-employee practices because who cares about fairness when you can get horse meat on the cheap?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl#Criticism
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/16/horsemeat-burgers-supermarkets