John Lewis plans to drop its ‘never knowingly undersold’ promise
JOHN Lewis plans to drop its famous “never knowingly undersold” promise.
The policy, which goes back 95 years, guarantees prices match with high street shops — but not online-only rivals.
New boss Dame Sharon White is set to ditch the slogan to move to a “digital first” sales model.
She said: “The proposition is important because it signifies being fair to society. We are reviewing it because shoppers are shopping in different ways.”
The department store chain recently announced the closure of eight stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.
This year, between 60 and 70 per cent of John Lewis’s sales are expected to be online, compared with 40 per cent last year.
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Even before Covid-19 the chain — which is run as a partnership — had warned it might not pay the usual staff dividend as competition ate into profits.
Dame Sharon said she expected the price pledge to go, adding that the chain needed “more inspiration, surprise, fun” and that it would compete by “curating” items in store better.
Catherine Shuttleworth, of retail marketing agency Savvy, said: “Never knowingly undersold is from another era.”
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