John Lewis - A British Institution

I have been constantly surprised by some of the down to earth WOW!-Brands that people have selected, having started out thinking it would be the same story with everyone!!

I ask the question to Sola  (my next interviewee) not knowing now what to expect.

'John Lewis', Sola says. 

'Customer Service is exceptional at all levels', Sola continues, 'particularly due to the co-operative model of the business where employees are co-owners.

A John Lewis Fascia

With the "never knowingly undersold" tag line whatever I buy, from electronics to household, I trust the John Lewis brand and products, which are of high quality, and the standard warranties beyond the normal 1 year that other retailers generally offer simply enhance that feeling. '



So does John Lewis meet my previous criteria I wonder? Or has it simply added another attribute? Is customer service critical to how we perceive brands? Have we mentioned quailty before?

Now I'm sure that many of the international readers will have never heard of John Lewis but it is something of an institution in the United Kingdom.

The business was founded in 1864 when John Lewis set up a draper's shop in Oxford Street, London, which developed into a department store.



John Lewis - Oxford Street

In 1905 he bought the Peter Jones store in Sloane Square and in 1920 his son, John Spedan Lewis, expanded earlier power-sharing policies by sharing the profits the business made among the employees.

This formal partnership structure still stands today and as of 2011 there are 76,500 partners working for the John Lewis Partnership in it's department stores, Waitrose supermarkets or other services. The employees — known as partners - have a say in the running of the business and receive a share of annual profits, which is usually a significant addition to their salary. The group is the third largest UK private company in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 for 2010.

Never Knowingly Undersold

The principle and slogan Never Knowingly Undersold was adopted in 1925. It stated that if a customer could buy the same item cheaper elsewhere they would refund the difference. Today, the company still honours this pledge, although many of it's competitors also offer such a pledge now. The principle has been further refined, most notably to exclude retailers who only trade through online shopping, however, it was at one time the only large retailer that would match the price with any UK shop, not restricting it to a local area.

As of 2005 it has plans to open a new department store every year for the next 10 years, which is probably the most ambitious expansion programme in its history, and Waitrose is expected to step up its export business by shipping its branded products to Canada and the US later this year. It already ships its own label products to countries including Barbados, Bermuda, Cyprus, Dubai, Grenada, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Trinidad, Saudi Arabia and St Lucia to name a few and operates several franchise stores across the Middle East.

After some thought I conclude that whilst John Lewis does indeed have it's own branded products and there is a huge amount of trust in these, a lot of this is built up simply by the customer promise. John Lewis adverts are definitely special so I would like to share one here so you can see for yourself.

So John Lewis stores are fantastic, the quality is excellent and you only have to see the excitement in British cities when JL announces it is coming - but for me it is more of a retail experience than a brand. But it has given me some final thoughts before I reveal what I believe is my Wow!-Brand.