John Lewis hopes to rake in £1 billion dollars annually from its own-brand Home division by 2020, according to a plans announced by the retail giant today.
The department store chain’s ambitious growth plan includes the introduction of its new Design Project collection this autumn, a 250-piece collection designed in-house and targeted at customers looking to have contemporary pieces in their homes.
The company will also continue to build its existing own-brands, including House and Croft, as well as expand exlusive relationships with external brands such as Loaf and West Elm.
The news comes after John Lewis recently invested £14 million in its flagship Oxford Street Home department in London, and has opened new Home Hub departments – a dedicated area bringing together all of John Lewis‘ home services – at its branches in Horsham, Basingstoke and Birmingham. Soon-to-open new shops in Chelmsford and Leeds will also feature Home Hub.
John Lewis also recently added Cortexica’s AI visual search technology to its online fashion pages on the John Lewis iPad app after a successful six month trial.
The visual search technology allows customers to find similar products within the app, displaying search results of products which are visually similar in colours, shapes, details and patterns.
John Lewis, the first UK retailer to install this technology, said 90 per cent of customers during the trial said the ‘Find Similar’ feature was useful.
