Retailer John Lewis made headlines earlier for all the right reasons, its sales during the Christmas period were up almost seven percent on the previous year.
Sales at its stores rose 1.2% in the five weeks to 28 December with online sales soaring almost 23%. Sales from click-and-collect jumped 60% compared with 2012.
So why is this good news for all independents? Because John Lewis does nothing different from any independent kitchen or bathroom specialist (apart from making a truly awful TV advert), it just does it on a grander scale.
You won’t find John Lewis offering ‘70% off’ of its kitchens and bathrooms; it won’t offer to ‘pay’ your VAT, and it won’t offer you ‘free’ fitting if you sign up in-store by 5:00pm.
The sales hike at Christmas shows that people still like to go out to shop as most of the items in sales were also on offer online. And results by John Lewis (and others) show that ‘click and collect’ is here to stay. But this is fairly simple technology, the modern-day equivalent to phoning to check if something is in stock and reserving it.
I think that the main reason people shop with John Lewis is because they trust it to deliver good value products backed up with exceptional service.
Frankly, if you as a kitchen or bathroom retailer do not offer the same, you don’t deserve to be in business
