Department store chain John Lewis is in talks with a number of unnamed parties to extend its click and collect offering. The click and collect service enables shoppers to buy products bought from John Lewis site and collect them at branches of another retailer. Currently, that only extends to sister supermarket chain Waitrose, but the deal could see it extended to hundreds of convenience stores or other smaller locations.

Speaking at the British Retail Consortium, John Lewis managing director Andy Street said that the growth of mCommerce and a tougher economic climate mean that for retailers, less really is more. “We believe that national coverage for an online retailer in 2020 is no more than about 60 or 70 shops,” said Street. “The days for needing 200 to cover the UK are clearly history.”

For Rob Wilson, market unit leader at performance marketing firm Tradedoubler, the news is a sign of the further blurring between online and offline. 

“We read so much about the death of the high street as a result of internet-shopping, yet moves such as this confirm our belief that eCommerce, mCommerce and in-store shopping all complement and enhance each other, for the benefit of the customer and the retailer,” says Wilson. “Our latest research shows that customers increasingly want their shopping experience to be seamless, multichannel and tailored to their personal needs. The study shows that smartphones and Tablets are used increasingly to research, compare and order goods and services, and that this is disrupting and transforming the traditional buying journey in a way which retailers cannot afford to ignore.”