// Dobbies expands partnership with John Lewis with new click-and-collect trial
// The trial comes after Waitrose said it will have a dedicated area in Dobbies’ garden centres
John Lewis products can now be picked up from Dobbies stores as part of a new trial.
Customers at Dobbies in Aberdeen, Huntingdon and Gillingham will now be able to collect their John Lewis parcels from the next day.
Collection is free of charge for orders over £30 and there is free collection for any order up until 19 October.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
The trial comes after news in July that upmarket grocer Waitrose would have a dedicated area offering more than 2,000 products in 50 of the garden centre‘s foodhalls.
The roll out is already underway having been launched in the Dobbies stores in Edinburgh, Brighton, Atherstone and Dunfermline.
Waitrose replaced Dobbies’ partnership with Sainsbury’s after it pulled out of supply deals.
Waitrose executive director James Bailey said at the time that the partnership will take it to locations that are “entirely new for us and build our presence in other areas where a Waitrose shop may not currently be conveniently accessible, despite strong demand for our products”.
Dobbies is the latest retailer to join the existing network of over 350 John Lewis and Waitrose click-and-collect points, along with over 800 Co-op, Shell and Booths locations.
“The new John Lewis click-and-collect offering complements the delivery and collection services we currently provide with DPD and Amazon,” Dobbies CEO Graeme Jenkins said.
“We’re committed to providing convenience to our customers and this new collaboration enables us to further develop this focus. It’s important that we share a commitment to great value, quality and customer service with our partners.”
John Lewis Partnership supply chain planning & development director, Ged Keogh-Peters said: “The introduction of click-and-collect further strengthens our partnership with Dobbies and underlines our ambition to find new ways to be more convenient for our customers.
“The service is growing in popularity every year with customers increasingly wanting the ease of being able to pick up their order at a time and place which works for them. The success of this trial would present the opportunity to roll out the service to more centres.”
