John Lewis is bringing back its ‘never knowingly undersold’ pledge in a new price match with major rivals.
The High Street stalwart has promised to bring back the historic strap line after customer feedback and a leadership shake-up.
But now the promise will specifically apply to 25 major competitors including Boots, Marks & Spencer and Dunelm.
Executive director Peter Ruis insisted ‘it’s not just back, it’s better.’
‘It gets us back on the front foot,’ he said, adding that the multi-million investment would help to boost the Middle England favourite’s financial fortunes.
John Lewis is bringing back its ‘never knowingly undersold’ pledge in a new price match with major rivals
The High Street stalwart’s executive director Peter Ruis (pictured) insisted ‘it’s not just back, it’s better’
Around 35,000 prices have been changed this week ahead of the launch next week on Monday September 9.
The company, which is owned by its employees known as partners, will now use a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology programme to check prices are competitive.
It scrapped the pledge just over two years ago in August 2022, saying it would instead focus on ‘everyday quality and value.’
And boss Ruis admitted there were some issues of ‘confusion’ with the older system, which had felt ‘pre-web.’
John Lewis is also launching a new advertising campaign alongside the pledge later this month.
And boss Ruis admitted there were some issues of ‘confusion’ with the older system, which had felt ‘pre-web.’
John Lewis is also launching a new advertising campaign alongside the pledge later this month.
A series of videos will focus on the historic decades observed by the brand’s shop window of its flagship Oxford St store.
This will launch on September 19, and feature actor Samantha Morton and singer Laura Mvula.
There will be scenes from Londoners diving into the shop’s basement bunker for safety during the Blitz in the Second World War to the fashion heyday of the 1980s.
The retailer has been vying with rivals M&S and Next, who have succeeded in enticing customers away from the department store.
John Lewis is also joining its rivals in boosting the array of big names available to shoppers.
John Lewis has promised to bring back the historic strap line after customer feedback and a leadership shake-up
Now the promise will specifically apply to 25 major competitors including Boots, Marks & Spencer and Dunelm.
The department store and Waitrose owner has had a troubled few years but finally returned to profit in the spring.
Now, it is reviving its fashion ranges and brand power to woo Middle England.
It is also pinning hopes on services including clothes rental and free personal styling to entice younger shoppers, and last month the 95-year-old partnership hired former Topshop boss Rachel Morgans as director of fashion.
It comes as the group chairman Dame Sharon White, 56, stands down after five years this month.
She will be replaced by ex-Tesco managing director Jason Tarry, who is seen as a safe pair of hands – given his credentials leading Britain’s biggest supermarket.
The September launch of John Lewis’s autumn and winter range included Princess Beatrice’s favourite label Kooples and the trendy Danish brand Numph.
Ruis, added:‘100 years ago John Spedan Lewis created Britain’s most innovative and famous brand mantra. It defines why John Lewis is so special, and its unique position in the retail landscape. For the past seven months I’ve talked to our customers and our Partners about what John Lewis means to them.
Undated handout photo issued by John Lewis of their famous slogan ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ being used for the first time in a paper, 1928
‘Today, we’re kick-starting our brand for the next 100 years, the perfect fusion of heritage and British eccentricity blended with radical relevance for the modern customer.’
It comes as the Marks & Spencer clothing and home segment has been increasing its lead over the John Lewis department store.
M&S increased its slice of this market to 3.7 per cent from 3.4 per cent in 2019 and as little as 2.6 per cent in 2020 during Covid lockdowns, according to analysis seen by The Mail this year.
In contrast, John Lewis’s share has been broadly flat over the past five years. It held on to a 2.3 per cent slice last year after it dropped from 2.4 per cent in 2022.
And analytics firm Global Data forecasts that M&S will have 3.9 per cent of the market by 2027 with John Lewis still at 2.3 per cent.
The swing in financial fortunes is a boost for chair Dame Sharon White who had said John Lewis would not return to a sustainable profit before the 2028 financial year.
Experts said the main reason behind a profit in 2023 was an aggressive £900million cost-cutting programme rather than a fillip in sales at Waitrose or the department stores.