LONDON, 2016-Jul-19 — /EPR Retail News/ — John Lewis has today announced it will have a physical presence in Australia for the first time by opening shop-in-shops within six branches of leading Australian department store Myer.
The first shop-in-shop will open before Christmas 2016 in Myer’s newly refurbished Warringah store in the outskirts of Sydney. This will be followed by additional openings in Melbourne, Perth, Bondi, Chadstone, and Myer’s flagship store in Sydney in February 2017.
The John Lewis departments will be between 600 sq ft and 850 sq ft in size and customers will be able to shop an exclusive assortment incorporating the best of John Lewis’s own brand home and lifestyle products across bed, bath, and living. Once open, John Lewis will have 30 shop-in-shops worldwide.
Today’s announcement is coupled with the news that John Lewis has extended the number of countries it delivers to through johnlewis.com from 33 to 40. For the first time, customers will be able to order the best of John Lewis fashion and homewares delivered via online to countries including; Hong Kong, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Switzerland, The Philippines and Malaysia. Furthermore, customers can now pay in ten additional currencies.
In the past twelve months, John Lewis’s online international traffic has increased by 15% and online international sales grown by 50%.
- The most popular items for international customers are John Lewis homewares – in particular own brand bed linen which accounts for 21% of own brand international sales. Luxury items are in demand with Egyptian cotton pillowcases one of our best-selling items.
- British fashion brands such as Joules, Jigsaw and phase 8 are also popular, with women’s fashion brands accounting for 12% of total international sales in the last twelve months.
- For children, own brand clothes ranges sell well in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and toys are also high on the shopping list with LEGO a favourite for the little ones.
- Taste in Christmas decorations vary from country to country – despite their close proximity, Australian customers bought 250% more Christmas tree decorations last year than customers in New Zealand.
Katie Jordan, Head of International Development, John Lewis, said: ‘We’re delighted to be expanding our international presence and bringing John Lewis to new countries around the world, both through physical collaborations and by expanding our online international delivery destinations. There is a real synergy between Myer’s customer base and ours, and we believe they are the perfect partner for our first Australian shop-in-shops.’
Daniel Bracken, Chief Merchandise and Customer Officer, and Deputy CEO, Myer, said: ‘We are excited to exclusively offer Myer customers the first opportunity in Australia to shop the John Lewis brand in a tailor-made lifestyle concept.’
‘The introduction of John Lewis homewares fits very well with our New Myer strategy to offer our customers desirable and wanted brands. John Lewis is widely recognised as the leading destination for homewares in the UK, and its own branded collections, are highly sought after for their stylish and innovative design, quality and accessibility. John Lewis is a trusted brand and their homewares collections have built up a very large and loyal following within the UK and internationally.’
Notes to editors
About John Lewis
John Lewis operates 46 John Lewis shops across the UK (32 department stores, 12 John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as johnlewis.com. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership, the UK’s largest example of worker co-ownership and all 30,000 John Lewis staff are Partners in the business.
John Lewis stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores and johnlewis.com across fashion, home and technology, and was named ‘Best In-Store Experience’, ‘Best Clothing Retailer,’ ‘Best Electricals Retailer,’ ‘Best Furniture Retailer,’ ‘Best Homewares Retailer’ and ‘Best Click & Collect Retailer’ in the 2016 Verdict Customer Satisfaction awards.
Johnlewis.com is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK. John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products – home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover – delivering the values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.
You can follow John Lewis on the following social media channels:
www.johnlewis.com/twitter
www.johnlewis.com/facebook
www.johnlewis.com/youtube.
About Myer
Myer is a modern Australian retailer, with more than 100 years of heritage and a dedicated focus to bring the love of shopping to life.
Myer is Australia’s largest full-line departments store group, with more than 60 stores across Australia.
Our stores are visited by customers more than 130 millions times each year, and our loyalty program, MYER one, has more than five million members.
We are a significant employer in Australia, with 12,500 Myer team members, and we have a strong background in philanthropy.
Myer has a proud Australian history and an exciting future supported by our New Myer strategy, which delivers a fresh interpretation of our brand, a re-energised and relevant range, improved services and in-store experiences complemented by a strong omni-channel offer.
Our strategy brings the best of Myer to the customers who love us today, and to future generations.
General enquires:
For further information please contact:
Laura Askew
Communications Manager, Brand & Flagships
Telephone: 0207 798 3396
Email: laura.askew@johnlewis.co.u
Source: John Lewis