He explained that, in today’s economic climate, “retailers do not survive unless they focus on value” – it should be the “absolute bedrock”.
Mayfield said “Never knowingly undersold” remains one of the brand values at the heart of what the business did after it was first implemented more than 80 years ago.
John Lewis Partnership is conducting trials in every part of the country to “tighten it up and implement it more vigorously”, he said.
The comments were made in a speech to the Retail Week Conference 2008 about maintaining quality and brand loyalty in a more competitive environment.
Mayfield outlined how the company has recently made a concerted effort to develop the John Lewis brand. Hundreds of millions of pounds has been spent rebranding and developing stores. And there is now a push into more conventional forms of brand building such as TV advertising.
He also warned that the market had become “pretty tough pretty quickly” and he would be focusing on building on the business’s core strengths.
Partners remain fundamental to success. “In order to make all these ideas sustainable, it all comes down to people,” Mayfield said.
According to Mayfield, it is the John Lewis Partnership’s partners, customers and profit circle, as opposed to its competitors’ employees, customers and profit chain that sets them apart. He said the key was “sharing knowledge, power and profit” among partners.
“I don’t pretend we’re not different, we revel in it sometimes,” he added.
Last week, the John Lewis Partnership revealed that all 68,000 partners are to receive a bonus of 20 per cent of their salary – equivalent to£181 million.
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