John Lewis’s YouTube show comes after the success of Waitrose’s Dish podcast. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA View image in fullscreen John Lewis’s YouTube show comes after the success of Waitrose’s Dish podcast. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA John Lewis John Lewis to launch YouTube chatshow to improve AI search results Department store chain’s Gift List ‘vodcast’ will be hosted by TV presenter Angela Scanlon
Prefer the Guardian on Google John Lewis is launching an online chatshow and social media studio to help make itself and its products more visible to chatbots and more prominent in AI search results.
The department store chain’s Gift List “vodcast” hosted by the TV presenter Angela Scanlon will air on YouTube with clips disseminated via other social media channels and comes after the success of its sister chain Waitrose’s Dish podcast.
View image in fullscreen Angela Scanlon will host the Gift List ‘vodcast’. Photograph: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock The premise is guests discussing good and bad presents they have given and received, with the broadcaster Louis Theroux appearing on the first show. There will be six episodes running up to Christmas, with more planned if the series takes off.
Shoppers are increasingly influenced by the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini to find and recommend products and also by information on social media such as Instagram and TikTok. The AI large language models tend to prioritise third-party advice and live content when formulating their responses, which is forcing retailers to change their marketing plans.
The department store’s outgoing boss, Peter Ruis, said that a year ago just 0.3% of its customers were searching for products via AI large language models such as ChatGPT, but that had already risen to 2.5%, and usage was growing exponentially with all ages using the technology.
Being able to rapidly respond to trends and interests with clips of influencers or experts filmed for social media – such as the opening of the British Museum’s Bayeux tapestry exhibition, which is expected to spur an interest in cross stitching, or the launch of the Harry Potter TV series before Christmas – has become just as important as the group’s festive TV ad or its ‘never knowingly undersold ’ price pledge.
Ruis, who departs John Lewis this weekend after almost three years as managing director, said John Lewis had to move with the times as it faced an economy which was “a bit swirly”.
He said the chancellor’s budget announcements next month would come at a “critical period” for retailers and he wanted to see more help on business rates.
View image in fullscreen Peter Ruis, the outgoing managing director who leaves this weekend, said he was optimistic for John Lewis in the run-up to Christmas. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian Ruis said strong trading this week and a string of recent innovations, including modernised cafes and sports departments as well as the social media push and a recent “toy boom”, made him optimistic about the run-up to Christmas.
Details of John Lewis’s half-year figures will be released next week. Ruis said it had been a “summer of winners and losers” but indicated there was now “decent momentum” as shoppers still had money to spend.
The chain rang up record sales of garden furniture, fans and air conditioning over the summer but Ruis said it was not yet clear if the “Burnham bounce” over the summer would last. “People are not going to splurge when you have got inflation swirling,” he said.…