Department store John Lewis is to double the number of Kuoni concessions in its stores as its seeks to strengthen its point of difference on the high street, it has been announced today.
Travel specialist Kuoni initially launched in four John Lewis stores last October, opening in Southampton, Reading, Cardiff and its Oxford Street flagship and the new offerings will continue to combine “the look and feel of the two brands”, John Lewis said.
Located in the customer service area of John Lewis stores, the concessions will include technology such as iPads and plasma screens to showcase holiday options using multichannel opportunities.
As the travel partner for the John Lewis Gift List, Kuoni offers a service allowing wedding guests to contribute to honeymoons booked through them while it also promotes John Lewis Travel Insurance to customers.
“We are delighted our brand synergy with John Lewis has been so successful for both businesses and we‘re really excited to have the opportunity to grow our partnership further and open four more concessions in Autumn 2013,” said Kuoni‘s Managing Director Derek Jones.
“We strive to put our customers at the heart of everything we do and they really value the expert personal knowledge we provide.
“The success of our high street stores has shown that the best way to truly understand their needs is to spend time with them face to face in comfortable and inspiring surroundings.
“The new concessions will allow us to bring our unique approach to travel retailing to even more locations around the UK.”
Kuoni has a growing portfolio of stores and concessions, with 22 branded high street stores and five independent partnership stores and John Lewis‘ Director of Commercial Operations Sean Allam believes the strength of the proposition will help drive further growth at the department store.
“John Lewis customers have embraced the idea of buying holidays in our department stores, and we‘ve been impressed at how well the concessions have performed,” Allam said.
“We‘re seeing that customers want the expertise and advice they can get from visiting a branch, which in turn drives footfall to our shops and helps John Lewis to differentiate further our offer on the high street.
“Our partnership with Kuoni is a great fit for John Lewis, not only the concessions in our shops, but through other parts of our business such as John Lewis insurance and Gift List.”
