What the high street banks can learn from John Lewis

I went into Lloyds the other day to pay some cash into a non-Lloyds account. I’d received a call while I was out asking for the money to be paid into the account there and then as it was pretty urgent. I’d not had to do this sort of transaction for many years so was a bit staggered when I found there was a £20 charge. If I’d been paying into another major bank I’d probably have been able to take the cash out of my account and walked it over the road and pay it in. However there wasn’t a Halifax anywhere close. The irony is if the bank had provided Wi-Fi, I’d have pulled out my iPad and made the payment there and then via the Lloyds app. Instead, I headed to Starbucks and did it there for free (well, for the price of a coffee…..see how Starbucks made money out of Lloyd’s fail?). While retailers are increasingly bringing Wi-Fi in store, the banks seem to be ignoring the march of technology when it comes to the branch environment. The cashier told me there wasn’t even any Wi-Fi for staff. Boo.

Image taken from The Daily Telegraph

Contrast this disjointed, disconnected approach with John Lewis, the king of joined-up shopping. I ordered a high value item from their website on Friday. I hadn’t realised that their much lauded Click and Collect allowed pick up at a local Waitrose. Two days later, I got a text to tell me my item had arrived and I simply made the two minute walk from the office to the Waitrose over the road. Really neat. They even take returns at the same branch too. Contrast that with M&S who allow you to order an item online and pick up at a local food-only branch but do not allow you to return that item to the store. And that’s even when you open the item in front of them and would like to hand it back there and then.

John Lewis, you deserve to hold onto the multichannel crown, at least for the moment. Moreover, the item I bought was over 15% cheaper with JL than the other big department stores and my local Dove Spa. John Lewis, what’s not to love!