41_43_John Lewis Report.qxp_Grid 22/12/2025 18:20 Page 2
RETAILER REVELATIONS
SHOPPiNG FOR JOY
The greeting card industry’s soul sank 12 months ago, when John Lewis’ Shop Live Look report dealt a blow by declaring “Christmas cards are lost in the post” in its Shop-Live-LookReport, including cards in its list of ‘Products We Left Behind’. However, the retail group’s latest edition of its annual report makes for much more uplifting reading as far as the greeting card sector is concerned, reinforcing how entrenched they are both in everyday and seasonal gift gifting while the consumer’s show of faith extends to wrappings. And these are not the only products to have endured while many others have fallen by the wayside in consumer purchasing habits. As Peter Ruis, group md of the John Lewis group wrote in the foreword of the 2025 Shop Live Look which was revealed a few weeks ago: “When I first joined The Partnership 20 years ago, I would have struggled to believe that Bridget Jones – and her big pants – would still be on our cinema screens, that an advent calendar would be one of our most successful product launches of all time, that we’d sell more sexual wellness products than hot water bottles or that Quality Street tins would be our most Above: John Lewis MD Peter Ruis picked out advents in his welcome address. Right: Bricks & mortar still plays an important role in consumer purchasing decisions.
Confirming that Britain shopped for joy in 2025, the 12th annual John Lewis’ Shop Live Look report positively featured greeting cards, giftwrap and sustainability – along with sex toys! And the department store group’s md Peter Ruis even pulled out advent calendars in his welcome address in the much-awaited publication that reveals the consumer behaviours, cultural shifts and surprising trends that defined the last year. PG flicks through the pages and pulls out some of the highlights.
Top JL’s 12th annual Shop Live Look report was released a few weeks ago. Above: John Lewis is often viewed as a bellwether to general retail.
popular Christmas bauble. But that is the joy of working for John Lewis – every day is a school day.” From the “nowstalgia” revival of 90s music, fashion and culture to the long hot summer and boom in sexual wellness, John Lewis
tracked a national obsession with feeling good, with greeting cards playing into that vibe, spreading happiness in an envelope. The report highlighted instant gratification gifting where John Lewis shoppers are using the Uber Eats trial partnerships in Leeds and Stratford to get their fix of emergency retail, extending the service beyond fast food and groceries. The most popular category is gifting, but some 22% of JL orders include a card or wrapping paper.
MORE iN STORE TREATS There was good bricks-and-mortar news in the Report too as 78% of customers buying substantial items went to the physical stores for at least part of the research, and 48% of the 1,100 people surveyed cited the experience of simply “wandering around” as the main attraction for visiting, proving that in-store discovery is essential to the modern shopping journey, while 27% like to do both browsing and buying in-store. The department store group is following the research by investing £800million in revamps of its 36 sites to make shopping more of an experience, including opening the John Lewis Lounge where members can put their feet up and enjoy a glass of fizz, as well as launching the first Gifting Emporium at Bluewater “ensuring as many of our stores as possible remain thrilling places to visit” according to the MD.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 41