How John Lewis shifted the department store to a brand channel

The British retailer John Lewis has embraced the impact of digital on its physical presence, and has developed a strategy to bring both sides together for commercial success.

The once pioneering American department store Sears declared bankruptcy in September 2018. For many, the news read as a report on yet another casualty inflicted by the rise of Amazon, as it gobbles up the dollars that once flooded to venerable department stores. But Sears’ problems were not just external, despite the obvious pressure that the all-selling Amazon is exerting across the retail sector. There was a core problem with its strategy, which had attempted to deal with its numerous issues in a fundamentally outdated manner: close loss-making stores, sell off real estate assets, and borrow more money from its...

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