Speaking at Shoptalk Europe 2026 in Barcelona, John Lewis Managing Director Peter Ruis reframed the retailer's competitive landscape, stating it no longer primarily competes with other department stores but instead faces pressure from specialist brands, social platforms, AI search engines, marketplaces and technology giants (RetailNews.ai). The strategic response centers on AI as a discovery layer paired with human expertise across stores, web, app and contact centres. Search traffic from large language models and AI-powered search tools has grown to over 2%, up from under 0.5% just months earlier, with expectations it could reach 5% within nine months (RetailNews.ai).
John Lewis is investing significantly in physical retail despite broader industry pullback, viewing stores as venues for curation, emotional connection and expert service that pure digital platforms cannot replicate (RetailNews.ai). The retailer is also expanding into resale, with its most expensive single item sold last year being a secondhand Hermès handbag at approximately £12,000 (RetailNews.ai). For commerce practitioners, this demonstrates that AI adoption need not cannibalize human-led service or physical presence; instead, AI efficiency in discovery and digital channels can free resources to reinvest in expert consultation and trust-building interactions that customers still demand for significant purchases.