Since 1925, John Lewis has offered a high street competitor price match policy for before or after your purchase, this summer (date tbc) that will end and instead (they say) prices will remain low with a £500 million investment and they will move to a more proactive approach instead of a reactive one.
This price match policy allowed you to claim a partial refund on the difference between the price you paid (or were going to pay) and the price of the competing high street store as long as you did so within 28 days of purchase. The one big caveat with this policy, at least in recent history, was that John Lewis wouldn’t price match online retailers.
Going forward they will continue with:
- the mantra of “treat all of our customers fairly”
- two-year guarantees on electricals
- five-year guarantees on TVs
- A £500 million investment (25% more than last year) to keep prices low and offer “everyday quality and value”
John Lewis & Partners emailed all customers this morning notifying them of the change.
John Lewis & Partners made this statement:
Dear XXXX,
I’m delighted to let you know that today we’re announcing a £500 million investment so that we can bring John Lewis quality to you at great value prices, every day. As the cost of living rises, we have all become more conscious of our spending habits and with this new investment, we will ensure that we’re offering you the quality, style, service and trust that you expect from us, whatever your budget.
With this in mind, we will be retiring our Never Knowingly Undersold policy this summer. Established back in 1925 and a hallmark of trust for nearly a century, we recognise that this policy is no longer serving you in the way that we would like, as it doesn’t allow us to match prices from online-only retailers. Due to the increase in online shopping, driven further by the events of the last two years, our £500 million investment will ensure that all of our customers will benefit from fair and great value prices that you can trust, whether you choose to shop in our stores or online.
Our founding philosophy to treat all of our customers fairly remains unchanged. Our investment for the future means that we can proactively lead on great value pricing, and you can be assured that we will continue to monitor prices from other high street retailers. We will still continue to offer additional benefits that are unique to John Lewis, including our standard two-year guarantees on electricals and five-year guarantees on TVs, so you know that we will always do right by you.
In spring 2021, we also launched our in-house brand, ANYDAY, which over 2 million of you have already shopped. ANYDAY offers great value products across Fashion, Home, Technology and Nursery, with prices on average 20% lower than our other own-brand ranges. Look out for new arrivals from ANYDAY throughout the year, including Swimwear and a larger Outdoor Furniture collection that will be available from this summer.
Best wishes,
PIPPA WICKS
PARTNER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JOHN LEWIS
Learn more about the announcement here
