John Lewis axes click & collect to drive lockdown compliance

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 13, 2021

UK retail giant John Lewis switched off its Click & Collect store service to new orders from the end of Tuesday. The move is part of  wider changes to the group's operations as the UK government ramps up calls for the public to adopt wider safety measures during lockdown.

The retailer said all existing click & collect bookings will be honoured where the customer still wishes to proceed, but no further bookings for non-essential services will be accepted.

Andrew Murphy, executive director of Operations, said: “We also want to help the national effort by removing reasons for non-essential travel, so we have decided to suspend Click & Collect services from our John Lewis shops”.

The John Lewis Partnership said Wednesday it is adopting the wider changes “to make shopping even safer for its customers and Partners”.

The group's sister brand Waitrose is also joining other major supermarkets in insisting all customers wear a face covering, unless medically exempt or under the required age. This will be rolled out across all stores over the next few days.

Admission will be denied to anyone refusing to comply. It will also be ensuring that, wherever possible, only one member of each household is permitted to shop. 

In addition, the retailer’s in-home services and installations teams will now carry out a significantly reduced range of activities in customers’ homes, “pausing services which are not essential to the health and wellbeing of customers and their families”.

Murphy added: “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”.