John Lewis is to extend its click and collect service to 5,000 stores across the UK, through a partnership with CollectPlus.
The partnership initially sees the department store use the delivery service to offer free returns for customers’ ecommerce orders, in a service launched this month.
From the autumn it will also trial a Click&Collect+ service that will enable shoppers to pick up items they ordered from John Lewis online at their local corner shop or other member of the 5,000-strong CollectPlus network for £3.
The move represents a significant extension of John Lewis’ existing click and collect service, where shoppers can pick up items ordered over the internet at 234 collection points in its own department stores and at home shops as well as Waitrose branches.
Karen Dracou, head of omnichannel development at John Lewis , said: “Orders using click and collect have nearly doubled over the past year and accounted for an impressive 35% of online sales over the Christmas period, so we know that customers are looking for ever-more convenient ways of shopping with us.
“By partnering with CollectPlus, we can extend our existing reach of John Lewis and Waitrose collection points to a wider geographical base, providing an even more convenient way for our customers to shop.”
Neil Ashworth, chief executive of CollectPlus , said: “We’ve designed the CollectPlus service to ensure that customers find collecting and returning items as easy and as painless as possible.
“The extended opening hours associated with all CollectPlus stores allow customers to drop off or return items outside of the traditional trading day. With this in mind, the CollectPlus service will fit perfectly around the busy lives of John Lewis customers, making it easy for customers to fit collecting and returning purchases into the rest of their day.
“We are delighted that John Lewis has chosen to partner with CollectPlus and are looking forward to working closely with them to make their customers’ online shopping experience even more easy and convenient.”
