John Lewis recently put 200 jobs at risk as it proposed shutting its in-store foreign exchange bureaux and dedicated gift-wrapping desks across dozens of sites.
The retailer has rolled out a redundancy consultation with staff impacted by the plans, which would see bureau de change services axed in 30 stores and specialist gift-wrapping desks, which share the space with its bureaux de change, shut across the 25 sites where it is available.
Although no final decision has yet been made, the closures are anticipated to occur in the autumn if the plans go ahead.
The proposed changes come under the department store’s £800 million transformation programme, including a £50 million investment in five of its shops this year.
The programme places its focus on areas such as expert advice, personal styling appointments, nursery consultations, and food and drink.
Customer service has long been seen as central to the John Lewis brand, raising the question of how the axing of its bureau de change and gift-wrapping desks could impact this support for its shoppers.
John Lewis has always prided itself on the quality of its customer service.
Just last week, the department store giant was ranked second in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, published by the Institute of Customer Service.
However, speaking to The Guardian, one member of John Lewis’ staff insisted that its decision to scrap its foreign exchange bureaux and gift-wrapping desks meant the retailer was “removing the area of the shop that John Lewis claims they stand for”.
The staff member claimed that the company’s shop floor workers who would take on the extra work of handling queries and offering gift wrapping at tills were “already overworked, overwhelmed with responsibilities and short staffed”.
However, a John Lewis spokesperson denied the criticism, noting that its independently measured customer satisfaction and loyalty scores had all improved year on year, alongside its staff satisfaction levels.
Customers increasingly choosing to order currency online
Speaking to Retail Gazette, John Lewis explains that it is proposing changes to its in-store bureaux de change areas as a result of declining demand.
The retailer notes that the plans follows a reduction in the amount of currency transactions occurring in its stores as shoppers increasingly opt to order currency online, use their credit cards or make digital payments while abroad.
John Lewis highlights that shoppers would still be able to order currency online if its plans go ahead – which offers a wider range of currencies than those available in-store.
It also notes that shoppers would still be able to arrange home delivery of their currencies, as well as click and collect from John Lewis and Waitrose branches.
A spokesperson for the brand says: “Our customers are increasingly buying the broad range of currencies we offer online, and enjoying the convenience of having this delivered directly to their home or collecting it at one of our shops.
“As we focus on modernising this proposition to meet our customers’ changing needs, we’re proposing to close our in-store foreign exchange bureaus as well as our gift wrapping service.
“As a result, we’re regretfully consulting with Partners who currently deliver these services. This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly, and we will support impacted Partners throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible.”
“A strategic misstep dressed up as modernisation”
Despite its plans to axe in-store forex and gift wrapping, John Lewis still offers a wealth of customer service offerings, such as its personal styling service, beauty treatments, home design service, and its home appliance installation service.
Gartner Consulting managing partner and retail & consumer goods strategist Jackie Swanson says that John Lewis’ decision to axe its in-store foreign exchange bureaux and dedicated gift-wrapping desks “reads as editing, not retreat”.
“Retailers prune product ranges constantly and nobody blinks, but service menus somehow became sacred, and they shouldn’t be,” she says.
“A staffed desk is a fixed cost that has to earn its floor space and labour hours like any SKU.
“Holding onto a currency desk in 2026 out of nostalgia would be the actual mistake. The discipline here is the story.”
However, Direction executive advisor and retail future specialist Dr Mark Smith argues that the move is “a strategic misstep dressed up as modernisation”.
“John Lewis is retiring two of its most distinctive service touchpoints at the precise moment that a lot of the sector is rediscovering physical store’s advantage lies in exactly this kind of high-touch, human, experiential value,” he says.
“Recent work on the future of physical retail argues that stores now compete on their ability to deliver differentiated, experiential value that digital simply can’t replicate – with estimates that around 70% of global sales still happen in physical space precisely because of that experiential pull.”
Smith argues that axing these services poses a “real risk” to impacting the retailer’s customer service because “service is the John Lewis brand”.
“It’s what puts them second in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index and top of all retailers,” he says.
“That ranking wasn’t earned on price; it was earned on the ‘extras’ and gift wrapping is one of the most emotionally loaded extras there is.
“Moving it from a specialist desk to a till point doesn’t just make it ‘more accessible’ as the company frames it – it strips the ceremony out of it and turns a memorable moment into a bolt-on.”
However, Swanson argues that the John Lewis service reputation was “never located in a desk”.
“It lives in the Partners, and that’s precisely why the model has endured while flashier competitors came and went,” she says.
“Changing where a service is delivered differs from cutting the service, and if till-point wrapping is executed with care, most customers will register no loss at all.
“The genuinely hard part is the 200 roles in consultation, and how thoughtfully the Partnership handles those people will say more about the brand than either desk ever did.”
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