John Lewis to offer personal shopping and champagne in store 'to get online shoppers off the sofa'

John Lewis is offering shoppers the chance to have the store to themselves if they spend £10,000, in a bid to revive its flagging fortunes. 

To coax shoppers away from internet shopping and into stores, the retailer has launched a range of personal shopping experiences to "give them something to get off the sofa for".

It comes amid what some have described as the worst year ever for UK department stores, with House of Fraser going into administration, Debenhams on the brink of collapse and John Lewis's profits down by 99 per cent.  

Customers at John Lewis's Cheltenham store will be able to book out the whole shop and have exclusive use of it after-hours, with an expert team of John Lewis staff on hand to create the ultimate bespoke shopping experience.

The service is available for groups or individuals and carries a minimum spend of £10,000 bookable in advance.  

Separately it is also launching a free "shopping list" experience where customers can kick back with a glass of fizz while a member of staff goes around the store finding items.

Around Christmas there will also be a gift finding experience on offer where customers tell staff who they are buying for and staff come up with suggestions.

Peter Cross, director of customer experience at John Lewis, said: “Customer service has always been our differentiating factor and when you look at the changing role of shops it made sense to focus on it.

"If you're going to go offline and get off the sofa or the iPad and into shops and shop in real time, your expectation is different. Without a shadow of a doubt the bar is higher with what people want from a shop now.

"They don't just want to transact, they want an experience. In the past it has been the preserve of the famous few, but we think this service should be available to everyone."