John Lewis deepens customer relations strategy, appoints first head of loyalty

John Lewis is set to deepen its investment into customer loyalty through new partnerships and the appointment of its first head of loyalty, Emily Wells.

The retail group has struck up five-year agreements with customer insights and media firm Dunnhumby and marketing technology company Eagle Eye Solutions Group, both of which it said would provide greater personalisation and loyalty experiences.

It comes on the back of a relaunch for My Waitrose and My John Lewis loyalty programmes last year, the latter of which has grown to five million members, as reported by the retailer.

Through the new partnerships, John Lewis hopes to open up collaboration opportunities with suppliers to back the growth of its JLP Insights and Media service, designed to enable suppliers to engage with customers throughout their shopping journey.

Wells will lead each of the loyalty programmes in her pan-partnership position, joining the company in June with the task of developing and launching a new loyalty proposition in 2024.

Prior to John Lewis, Wells held a number of senior partnership and proposition roles at Tesco over the last five years, most recently serving as head of loyalty strategy.

In a release, Charlotte Lock, customer director, John Lewis and pan-partnership, said: “Today’s announcements show the ambition we have to transform how our much loved brands can deliver a more personalised experience for customers.

“With Emily’s appointment and our new partnerships with Dunnhumby and Eagle Eye, we can better help our customers however, whenever and wherever they shop with us.”