John Lewis online sales reach £1bn as revamped website unveiled

The £1bn milestone was reached a year ahead of the retailer’s own forecast.

John Lewis online director Mark Lewis, who joined last month, said: “Passing the £1bn milestone almost an entire year ahead of schedule is a fantastic achievement for us, and a reflection of how central online shopping has become to our customers.

“We have a leading omnichannel strategy which our customers love, but to continue to deliver the service our customers want, we need a website which will serve us as well as the old one did, and maintain our position as a leading innovator in online retailing.”

The new web platform, part of a three-year project, “is the foundation for future online growth and customer-focused omnichannel strategy”, John Lewis said.

The relaunched website features new functionality including an enhanced wish list function, search history, and “more inspirational content, with more customer-focused functionality planned for the future”.  

It also features a “prominent” feedback form, which generates around 300 pieces of feedback a day. John Lewis said it will use the feedback to “prioritise issues and spot trends”.

John Lewis’ mobile site has also been revamped to mirror the creative of the main site. A new app will be launched, with details to be unveiled “later this year”. Mobile now accounts for 25% of traffic to johnlewis.com.

ohn Lewis IT director Paul Coby said: “With sales up over 40% for johnlewis.com in 2012, we are seeing an unprecedented pace of online growth and customers are making more demands on our website, than ever before.

“The billion-pound success of johnlewis.com is a reflection of our strategy to put the customer at the heart of our online operations. Early testing at every stage of the build, and inviting over 3 million customers to use our beta site before full launch, has resulted in what we believe will be an outstanding experience and journey for customers.

“We have designed the new site to incorporate the best features of our previous site making it not only easy and intuitive to use, but inspiring to shop.”