John Lewis staff sent to theatre school

New boss’s bold plan to boost customer service

JOHN Lewis is sending its staff to drama school in a bid to boost their confidence.

Recruits at the High Street department chain’s new Oxford shop will learn vocal techniques, stage presence and confidence in order to impress customers.

The theatrically trained staff will ‘meet and greet’ shoppers at the doors, and will give advice and help direct customers to the right areas of the store. Others will act as a concierges, helping customers.

It is thought that if the experiment is successful, the firm could roll it out across the country as it unveils revamped shops. The move is the brainchild of recently appointed boss Paula Nickolds, 44, as the 152-year-old chain prepares to open in Oxford later this year, its 49th location.

Peter Cross, customer experience director at the department store, said: ‘ Retail and the role of shops has changed significantly. Retailers have talked about the power of “retail theatre” for many years.’

He said the Oxford store ‘will recognise the power of our partners [staff] as the key players on the stage of this new shop, so their training will include the tools and techniques of the theatre to ensure every customer interaction is as magical as possible’.

As part of Nickolds’s strategy to improve sales, she is also planning to ramp up so-called experiences – offering services such as bikini waxes.

John Lewis has also introduced opticians, travel agents, spas and extra restaurants in some of its stores. Now Nickolds ( pictured) has announced further moves to woo customers.

John Lewis will overhaul its furniture department to attract ‘generation rent’. It will start selling so-called flexible furniture which can double up as two items – for example kitchen tables that transform into desks.

And in a bid to keep luxury shoppers happy, it will work with the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to produce high- end designer goods.

Launching the ranges, Nickolds told how ‘ the lipstick effect’ of women making spontaneous purchases has propped up sales at the department store, despite a consumer slowdown.

She spoke of her tough first few months at the helm as she was faced with shoppers whose budgets had been squeezed and didn’t want to splash out on expensive items. But she said sales in categories where shop- pers would make spontaneous purchases had risen, with beauty and womenswear climbing 7pc and 4.4pc respectively.

She said: ‘We believe those numbers to be significantly ahead of the market. Perhaps it’s the lipstick effect, as we might have called it back in the recession.’

The lipstick effect is based on the theory that when facing economic uncertainty consumers will be more willing to buy less costly luxury goods. Instead of buying expensive furniture or white goods for the home, for example, people will buy expensive lipstick. After the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, retailer Estee Lauder noted that sales of its lipstick had soared.

Sales at John Lewis rose 1.2pc in the 23 weeks to July 8 which, stripping out new stores, equates to a 0.5pc sales fall, according to analysts. However, John Lewis makes more than 40pc of its yearly profit in the five weeks before Christmas.

Nickolds, who joined the department store as a graduate trainee 23 years ago, said: ‘The first half of the year is a dress rehearsal so there’s still all to play for.