John Lewis switches off click and collect at ‘critical point’ of Covid crisis

The department store retailer will temporarily suspend its click-and-collect offer across its 42 branches at the end of today.

Shoppers will still be able to order click and collect purchases to Waitrose branches as well as third-party essential retail partners such as The Co-op and Booths.

John Lewis operations director Andrew Murphy said the retailer has been prompted to stop click and collect from its department stores to “help the national effort” to stem the spread of coronavirus “by removing reasons for non-essential travel”.

The move by John Lewis comes as part of a raft of measures imposed across the partnership. It will run a significantly reduced range in-home services and installations, and will only offer further bookings for essential services going forward.

Marshals will be placed at the entrance of all Waitrose shops in the coming days who will deny entry to any customer who does not have or refuses to wear a complimentary face mask. They will also impose a one-shopper-per-household policy where possible in stores. 

All Waitrose staff will wear face masks at all times when in-store including staff at tills sitting behind perspex screens. 

“We are acutely aware that the country is at a critical point in the pandemic and are constantly thinking about how best the partnership and our partners can play our part in limiting the spread and impact of the virus,” said Murphy.

“We’ve listened carefully to the clear change in tone and emphasis of the views and information shared by the UK’s governments in recent days. While we recognise that the detail of formal guidance has not changed, we feel it is right for us – and in the best interests of our partners and customers – to take proactive steps to further enhance our covid-security and related operational policies.

“By insisting on the wearing of face coverings, over and above the social distancing measures we already have in place, we aim to make our shops even safer for customers.

“Meanwhile, we will reduce the range of services we are offering to carry out in customers’ homes, focusing only on those which are essential in order for customers to maintain their health and wellbeing and that of their families.”