John Lewis and Waitrose trial virtual shop window

John Lewis is trailing a virtual click and collect window display at one of its Waitrose stores that will allow shoppers to buy a range of its non-food products via smartphones and QR codes.

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It follows the launch of a similar trial earlier this year buy rival Ocado, which created its first ever physical “store” by using window displays with product images that shoppers could purchase via its On the Go smartphone app.

John Lewis’s initiative allows shoppers in Brighton to purchase its Top 30 Christmas products 24 hours a day by using mobile apps to scan QR codes shown in the window. They can then log onto John Lewis’s m-commerce site.

Products include Lego, Hunter Wellington boots and Amazon Kindle, which if ordered before 7pm, will be available for collection at the Waitrose store by 2pm the next day.

The virtual initiative is an extension of the click and collect offer that John Lewis has recently extended to 94 of its sister grocery stores to allow customers that don’t live near a John Lewis department store access to its products.

John Lewis marketing director Craig Inglis says the initiative “takes that convenience to another level.”

It will be available until the end of December, and could roll out to further stores if successful.

Ocado’s virtual shop window launched in August.

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