Will John Lewis customers stay loyal during tough times?

In face of tough competition, and a retail squeeze on consumer spending, John Lewis have decided to give their brand a "bit more of a face and a personality" as it aims to reach an ambitious goal of doubling the size of the business within the next 10 years.

But how can they claim such an ambitious plan when the rest of the industry is being cautious with future growth figures? John Lewis expects this year to be tough as they continue to struggle to sell white goods and furniture and, even though other sectors are doing well, the department store's sales tumbled by 4.7% to £48.5m for the week to May 31.

John Lewis not only faces tough competition from the likes of Debenhams, currently on a growth curve, and House of Fraser, but also supermarket giants, such as Tesco, which has long recognised that growth comes from non-food products. Next year it will face another aggressive new competitor when the US electrical retailer Best Buy makes its first foray into Europe.

So with tough times ahead, what does John Lewis have up their sleeve that makes them so confident? An interesting initiative can be found in the latest advertising campaigns, designed to remind customers that their department store is a retailer that they can trust more than any other.

People are very cautious about spending, so they are sending out the message that ‘when you are buying, buy right’. That is the John Lewis response to the current economic climate, and perfectly timed as people look more closely at what they purchase. The idea is that the John Lewis brand already evokes an emotional trust with consumers and the new campaign focuses on that customer service.

However, the new campaign was apparently not born out of the tough economic climate, but is a continuation of the need to talk about traditional values such as quality, fair price and outstanding service.

Will this will approach be enough? Only time will tell. However, with fuel and food bills soaring and wages holding steady, John Lewis may find that such well guarded brand loyalty becomes less important as the need to survive becomes more important.

It could be a tough winter for John Lewis.