JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP

JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP

Executive summary

John Lewis Partnership (JLP) originated in 1864 when John Lewis set up a drapers shop in Oxford Street, London. John Lewiss son and successor, Spedan Lewis, took measures that cemented the partnerships links to common ownership ideals. Early experiments in sharing power with staff led to the development of a staff council, a house journal and the profit sharing concept.

In 1937, JLP acquired Waitrose, which was then a chain of 10 full-service food shops. By 1955, Waitrose had expanded to include many self-service shops and became the companys first supermarket. In 1994, the two sides of the partnerships business were united with the launch of the first Waitrose Food and Home store thereby combining a supermarket with selected goods from the department stores range. In 2000, JLP entered a partnership with Ocado, an online service delivering Waitrose groceries to homes in the UK. Ocado also stocked a range of John Lewiss products such as baby clothes and flowers. JLP entered a long-term agreement with HFC Bank in 2003 for the joint management of the John Lewis, Peter Jones and Waitrose store card business. Company Background:

John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is a leading retailer in the UK, operating supermarkets and department stores. JLP operates 27 John Lewis department stores, 213 Waitrose supermarkets, an online shopping network, a website and a catalogues business, and Greenbee.com.The company operates in the UK. John Lewis typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines of products such as furniture, kitchenware and clothing items. The website, www.johnlewis.com, stocks more than 45,000 product lines focused on household products and giftware. JLP has an online shopping service, John Lewis Direct, which owns about 25% of Internet grocer Ocado. Waitrose combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Strong brand equity

John Lewis Partnership (JLP) owns two of the strongest retail brands in the UK-Waitrose and John Lewis. John Lewis has been recognized as top for customer service by the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). In the Verdict consumer satisfaction index, January 2009, John Lewis was named "Britain's favorite retailer 2008" while Waitrose was named "Britain's favorite supermarket" in independent surveys by BBC Watchdog and Good Housekeeping Awards. JLP's distinctive positioning of its brands has won the company several accolades and a great degree of loyalty from customers. JLP has harnessed its brand potential to attract more customers, thereby strengthening its bargaining power (www.partnershipcard.co.uk/).

Strong portfolio of organic foods

Waitrose has been selling organic products for over 20 years. It has one of biggest range of organic products among the leading multiple retailers. “Waitrose Organic, stocks more than 1,600 lines including pet food, wine, tea, coffee, preserves, bread and toiletries. On an average, organic products account for around 7% of the company's food and drink sales. In the four weeks ended December 2008, Waitrose's share of the organic market was 19.4%.

Growing international operations

JLP entered agreements with supply partners to launch new stores in Dubai and Dublin, thereby underscoring the companys growing presence ...