Talking tech
John Lewis’ new London store is like a sex shop for people who are heavily into tech
Ducan Bell attends the gala opening of John Lewis’ in-store smart home, where cooking demos are all part of the service
A few years ago, John Lewis would have been mad to build a demo of ‘live’ smart home gear
Like most people, I don’t go to the shops as much as I used to. That would be the case even if tech brands stopped sending me stuff in the post all the time – imagine that nightmare scenario, guys!
But this month I ventured out to attend the ‘gala opening’ of the new John Lewis store in Westfield.
The shop is part of a mall so big it starts in Shepherd’s Bush and ends in a different postcode, and they were still adding the finishing touches when the press arrived.
That was worrying, as the official opening, for normal people, was the following day. The store itself only needed some last-minute shelf painting, but the pavement directly outside didn’t seem anywhere near complete. I didn’t spy any headlines the next day about customers being run over by JCBs or falling down holes, so presumably this all got sorted.
Racey retail
Once I’d navigated the building site to get in, the actual shop was fantastic. The bits I was there for (ie, not sofas or ‘haberdashery’, whatever that is) were essentially T3: The Shop.
Everything was high-tech and gleaming. The kitchen section was crammed with so much beautifully designed, high-tech gadgetry that it looked like… Well, it looked quite like my kitchen, to be honest.
Yet beneath the kitchen gadgetporn veneer, there’s a lot about this new emporium that’s far from traditional. Like all retailers, John Lewis is desperate to find ways to coax people out from behind their keyboard, mouse and e-tailer home page and into its actual shops. And once there, to get them to spend some actual money, rather than just conducting hands-on research, then ordering the exact same stuff online.
To this end, they’re adding a lot more ‘experiential’ activities. In the opening week alone there was everything from cooking workshops to a seminar on how to choose the right sofa.
The shop floor itself is changing to reflect this new approach, too. Yes, there’s all the usual stuff - the latest gadgets and kitchenware and white goods, all laid out for you to look at, fondle and rub up against - but there’s an even more erotic area set up for those who are looking to ‘experiment’ with smart home tech. It’s a little mini home, on the top floor, done in conjunction with Apple, so it’s all HomeKit stuff. There’s a bedroom, lounge and an ‘exterior’ where smart cameras monitor the adjacent luggage department. Everything looks ‘just so’; all tasteful wooden surfaces and designer tech, with Apple’s HomePod at its heart.
The problem with smart home tech for a lot of people is that, unless you’re elderly or disabled, it’s hard to see a burning need for it. Being able to turn your living room lights blue by talking to your hi-fi is very, very nice and all, but it’s not a fundamental human need. That’s why this stuff has to be sold hard, but also sold in a way that is soothing and relaxed. And that’s what this area does.
Just a few years ago, such a space would have been impossible. John Lewis would have been mad to mount a tasteful mini-home full of live, functioning smart home gear. The store assistants would have had a nervous breakdown with all the turning off and turning back on again; the constant repetition of the phrase, “I don’t understand, it was working five minutes ago,” while the punters edged out of the pretend front door and back towards the cameras and bedding and coffee machines and haberdashery.
Finally, all these years into the ‘connected home revolution’ and it more or less ‘just works’. Although if they’re planning on using voice control, I hope the aforementioned assistants are at this very minute practising speaking very LOUDLY and E-nun-CI-a-TING every word clearly – with the number of punters John Lewis is hoping to get through the Westfield doors, Siri’s going to have to work hard to hear people over all the cooing about funky lighting.