John Lewis extends delivery options with bigger Co-op deal

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 17, 2020

John Lewis may be planning to close some stores, but the company still wants to make its products as widely available as possible. On Friday it announced a massive expansion of its existing fast track, Click & Collect delivery and returns deal with Co-op food stores.

An extra 500 stores will be added to the agreement, taking the total to nearly 900.

As online shopping expands fast and John Lewis sees more than half of its sales being made online, the news is the next step in a series of digital investments it will be making.

The aim with these is to make shopping at the retailer generally more convenient. John Lewis has fewer than 50 of its own stores given the closure of eight branches, and sister brand Waitrose has around 350. Having John Lewis purchases collectible and returnable by close to another thousand shops is therefore a big move.

Andrew Murphy, Partner & Executive Director of Operations at the John Lewis Partnership said: “Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a significant shift to online shopping and expect this trend to continue. As a result, we are dedicated to providing more choice when it comes to how our customers receive their purchases, helping our customers shop how and when they want us. This includes providing more locations for collection and returns for online shopping.  

“Our customers love the ease and convenience Click & Collect provides, which gives us the confidence to continue to invest in this area. Building on our already successful partnership with the Co-op, this extension will allow us to offer our Click & Collect service to double the number of locations across the country”.

The phased roll-out of the John Lewis & Partners Click & Collect service to additional Co-op food stores has started this month and is expected to be complete during September.