John Lewis has unveiled an all year round content studio, ‘The Box Studio’, a new space for video and social content.

The Box Studio is located inside the retailer’s Oxford Street Store. It believes that people want to see products demonstrated to them and content can help with this.

John Lewis highlights that rather than replacing selling space, the new studio is built into its shop, allowing the retailer to respond trends or launches within hours rather than weeks.

According to the retailer, its fastest growing channels are now digital assistants and social platforms rather than traditional search. It has reported that 60 per cent of its sales come from online purchases and a growing number of consumers have stated that their first encounter with a product is via video.

Anna Braithwaite, chief customer officer at John Lewis, said: “We have shown every Christmas for nearly twenty years that we can make something people choose to watch. What we have not been able to do until now is do it all year round, quickly, and at the pace social moves.

“Customers have trusted John Lewis for a very long time, and that is worth more in this channel than any amount of production.”

The first content produced by the studio is the retailer’s ‘Gift List’ series, hosted by Angela Scanlon. And content from creators Daisy May Cooper, Tom Davis and Stephen Libby has already been filmed in the studio.

The new content studio is part of a £800 million multi-year programme which covers all of John Lewis’ shops and digital offering.

As part of this investment, John Lewis has opened Platter, a 300-seat restaurant at its Oxford Street store. It has also invested £50 million in five shops this year, including a £20 million redevelopment of its Glasgow store.

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