John Lewis’ PR is awful?

[HelenaHandcart0]

Just received this in an email from JL saying they are ditching the ‘never knowingly undersold’ promise. Sadly I feel this could be the beginning of the end for them (I hope not) but what an awful way to communicate it!

It said:

..’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’

AIBU in thinking their PR is awful in communicating it this way?

@WulyJmpr

It's like a business school case study in how not to do business.

How can you possibly say that without knowing it's balance books, it's contracts, it's costs and profits?

In a world where Amazon is killing off the high street I find it almost laughable to read some of these comments.

"Loyal customers...." I highly doubt it. Buying the odd thing from there doesn't make someone a loyal customer. Not does creating or contributing to this kind of thread in a negative manner.

If you were a loyal customer, you'd accept that they will do what they can. If you want to shop there, shop there. If you don't or can't, then don't. But don't slate them for not price matching when they can't afford to continue it!

Has the John Lewis marketing team turned up?

[quote EmbarrassedAllOver]@WulyJmpr

It's like a business school case study in how not to do business.

How can you possibly say that without knowing it's balance books, it's contracts, it's costs and profits?

In a world where Amazon is killing off the high street I find it almost laughable to read some of these comments.

"Loyal customers...." I highly doubt it. Buying the odd thing from there doesn't make someone a loyal customer. Not does creating or contributing to this kind of thread in a negative manner.

If you were a loyal customer, you'd accept that they will do what they can. If you want to shop there, shop there. If you don't or can't, then don't. But don't slate them for not price matching when they can't afford to continue it![/quote]
They sent me a Christmas gift as I spent so much money with them a couple of years ago. It included a handwritten note thanking me for my loyal custom.

Wow I never reached those heights.
It was a bit of an institution with my mum though: the senior staff knew her by name.😂

The JL 'Never Knowlingly Undersold' was a solid promise when retailers existed on the high street. Once on-line shopping came it was doomed to fail, how can a retailer with massive sqm of floor space and its associated costs compete with a retailer trading out of their garage or direct from manufacturer to consumer.

The fact is that people want the first class service but don't want to pay for. Organisations could either keep their 'exclusivity' or 'trade down'. Most have traded down, lookat BMW, BA and now JL.

The fact is most consumers know the 'price of everything but the value of nothing'. JL have faced a problem, if you want knowledgeable shop floor staff you need to pay them more/offer more. They can't afford to do this because of price competition.

I feel very sad about JL however for me, as someone in their 50's, the enjoyment of high street shopping has gone and is never to return. I like to see, feel, try on goods and have the enjoyment of 'shopping', long long gone and as a result I buy less.

wow, bricks and mortar retailer struggling in a pandemic fuelled online shopping boom cuts price match policy and some free stuff that people take advantage of, and MNers are "really angry" and "pissed off"
Meanwhile in Ukraine...

@Noisyprat

The JL 'Never Knowlingly Undersold' was a solid promise when retailers existed on the high street. Once on-line shopping came it was doomed to fail, how can a retailer with massive sqm of floor space and its associated costs compete with a retailer trading out of their garage or direct from manufacturer to consumer.

The fact is that people want the first class service but don't want to pay for. Organisations could either keep their 'exclusivity' or 'trade down'. Most have traded down, lookat BMW, BA and now JL.

The fact is most consumers know the 'price of everything but the value of nothing'. JL have faced a problem, if you want knowledgeable shop floor staff you need to pay them more/offer more. They can't afford to do this because of price competition.

I feel very sad about JL however for me, as someone in their 50's, the enjoyment of high street shopping has gone and is never to return. I like to see, feel, try on goods and have the enjoyment of 'shopping', long long gone and as a result I buy less.

Yes I agree

I will continue to shop with JL as I have always had a positive experience but our local one has gone which is a real shame

@Noisyprat

The JL 'Never Knowlingly Undersold' was a solid promise when retailers existed on the high street. Once on-line shopping came it was doomed to fail, how can a retailer with massive sqm of floor space and its associated costs compete with a retailer trading out of their garage or direct from manufacturer to consumer.

The fact is that people want the first class service but don't want to pay for. Organisations could either keep their 'exclusivity' or 'trade down'. Most have traded down, lookat BMW, BA and now JL.

The fact is most consumers know the 'price of everything but the value of nothing'. JL have faced a problem, if you want knowledgeable shop floor staff you need to pay them more/offer more. They can't afford to do this because of price competition.

I feel very sad about JL however for me, as someone in their 50's, the enjoyment of high street shopping has gone and is never to return. I like to see, feel, try on goods and have the enjoyment of 'shopping', long long gone and as a result I buy less.

Totally agree. I will continue to shop at John Lewis whenever I can and I am fortunate enough to have a John Lewis store in my local town centre.

People complain about the CEO’s lack of retail experience but I would dread to think how John Lewis would have fared during the pandemic if Sharon wasn’t the CEO. Her predecessor famously said that every city needs a John Lewis when online shopping was growing and shop footfall was starting to fall.

@goingback

wow, bricks and mortar retailer struggling in a pandemic fuelled online shopping boom cuts price match policy and some free stuff that people take advantage of, and MNers are "really angry" and "pissed off" Meanwhile in Ukraine...

People are criticising the communication of the change, not the change itself.

It’s possible to be annoyed simultaneously with both Vladimir Putin and John Lewis.

@MintMocha

And their 'rewards' are useless now too. They keep sending me surveys about them, and I keep saying the same thing - they are competitions, not rewards! How is a reward for me to enter a competition?! Bring back the coffee and cake vouchers, which meant something tangible, and got me back in the store rather than online.

Then get people properly trained to work in the different departments, and don't ignore the boring bits like haberdashery or whatever - real product knowledge, not just school-leavers trained to use the app and run the tills.

And get rid of the bright orange cheapo branding, and bring back quality products with the JL brand, at a reasonable price.

Drop the NKU if needed, fair enough and I think we'd understand if they can't afford it or whatever. But drop the patronising spin that it's a favour to us.

They should read this thread really, as I think many people here are exactly their core customers!

Agree 100% with this post.

@EmbarrassedAllOver You've got the wrong end of the stick. Posters aren't complaining that John Lewis are stopping NeverKnowinglyUndersold they are annoyed because John Lewis are trying to tell them it's because it's in the customers best interests when it clearly isn't. John Lewis are being disingenuous and treating their customers like idiots. No one would be pissed off at them if they were honest about it.

At least some posters are whinging at the price match being withdrawn, irrespective of how communicated.

On that subject: does the OP think that John Lewis should have asked her permission to drop ‘never knowingly undersold’? How else are they supposed to communicate bad news without sugar coating it? What should they have said? We know you won’t like it but tough luck cheapskates, it’s happening?

If they hadn’t communicated the withdrawal of the policy, they would have had to deal with queues of people saying, “cheapass.com are selling this for £5 less, I want you to sell it to me for the same price and if you don’t I’ll kick up a massive stink”.

The message is accurate: if we still want department stores we have to accept that they can’t prove match Amazon, whose physical footprint is giant warehouses in cheap areas. So if we still want JL to exist (I do; it is a great shop), ‘never knowingly undersold’ has to go.

Rather than an email telling us they're dumping something familiar and trusted, they should at least have sent an email saying they were introducing something better.

Instead it sounds like 'we're going down-market like everyone else'

Their comms team needs firing.

I'm afraid all our prior shopping experiences of the last 20 years are going to change. We were in a golden time for the high street shop. I've always loved a browse in JL but it couldn't last.

On that subject: does the OP think that John Lewis should have asked her permission to drop ‘never knowingly undersold’? How else are they supposed to communicate bad news without sugar coating it? What should they have said? We know you won’t like it but tough luck cheapskates, it’s happening?

How about something like this:

“From this summer, we regret that we will no longer be able to stand by our famous promise to be “Never Knowingly Undersold”.

Established back in 1925, Never Knowingly Undersold has been a hallmark of trust for nearly a century. However we can’t match prices from online-only retailers. Rather than make you a promise we can no longer keep, we think that the best way to continue that tradition of trust is to focus instead on offering you the best possible customer service and value for money in our network of bricks-and-mortar stores.”

Belated apologies to their PR team if it is the communications team who decided to share the news this way.

The e-mail felt so disingenuous, as if JL was taking me for a complete fool. Many other corporations may work this way but not HL, or so I’d thought.
It has been JL’s USPs of being owned by the partners, fabulous customer service and good quality products at sensible prices that has kept me going back.
And of course the lovely shops themselves.

I understand that they can’t price match physical shop prices with online retailers but I’m annoyed that they seem to be completely f*caking it up and don’t give a damn about loyal customers. Looking back at my JL account I have spent £12000+ (!) there over the last 3 years so a pretty consistent customer. I hate to think how much a previous poster spent in order to get a thank you card from JL!

Come on JL, we deserve better. Be honest about what you need to do to keep your shops and business alive.

Oh and if anyone is reading this, please don’t expand John Lewis financial products.
It is actual tangible good quality home, electrical, beauty, children’s and baby stuff, clothes, haberdashery, Christmas decorations etc etc I love.

But yes, whoever composed or approved that e-mail is in the wrong job.

@HaveringWavering should have their job instead.

That would have been much better and retained my trust in them.

as it doesn't allow us to match prices from online-only retailers

I’m confused - this implies that they could price match on-line retailers if they didn’t have the policy.

Having said that I have always thought the slogan was odd because to me it implies they are undersold all the time - just not knowingly.

[quote HelenaHandcart0]@HaveringWavering should have their job instead.

That would have been much better and retained my trust in them.[/quote]
I know right? I’m particularly pleased with “tradition of trust”

Having said that I have always thought the slogan was odd because to me it implies they are undersold all the time - just not knowingly

But it was knowingly all the time. They'd long since stopped reducing the price on the shop floor after accepting a price-match for a customer. At that point, they knew they were undersold and chose not to reduce that item.

I say this as someone who was called Mrs John Lewis by my friends as I was such a big fan.

@HaveringWavering

On that subject: does the OP think that John Lewis should have asked her permission to drop ‘never knowingly undersold’? How else are they supposed to communicate bad news without sugar coating it? What should they have said? We know you won’t like it but tough luck cheapskates, it’s happening?

How about something like this:

“From this summer, we regret that we will no longer be able to stand by our famous promise to be “Never Knowingly Undersold”.

Established back in 1925, Never Knowingly Undersold has been a hallmark of trust for nearly a century. However we can’t match prices from online-only retailers. Rather than make you a promise we can no longer keep, we think that the best way to continue that tradition of trust is to focus instead on offering you the best possible customer service and value for money in our network of bricks-and-mortar stores.”

Give this woman a job!

This is the full email:

Dear customer,

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. You can be assured that we will continue to monitor prices from other high street retailers, and that our investment means that we can proactively lead on great value pricing in the future.

Best wishes,
PIPPA WICKS
PARTNER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JOHN LEWIS

The email still focuses on price, but doesn’t explain how the 5 million investment will make things cheaper.

our investment means that we can proactively lead on great value pricing in the future.

As a customer,

Have to say, I miss the coffee and cake treats, and the little perfume samples. Used to really look forward to those rewards!