What's Behind John Lewis' Price Promise U-Turn?

Our Director of Strategy, Andy Lipscombe recently featured in Marketing Beat discussing John Lewis’ return of the price promise. Click through to see the article or read his comments below.

“The UK has a special place in its heart for John Lewis. It’s one of those relatively unique retailers that can boast loyalty across generations.

So not surprisingly there’s been a huge amount of noise around the recent return of their ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ endline and value mantra. Some of the reaction has been positive, but not all. Much has been made of the fact it's only two years since it was abandoned, and its ‘price promise’ has been described as complicated and convoluted as it now only applies to branded goods and certain named retailers.

But should this move be perceived negatively as a u-turn? I think it’s a welcome return from an established British retailer that understands the enduring authority of its brand and the powerful emotional connection it enjoys with customers.

From 1925 when ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ was first introduced, John Lewis found a home in the national consciousness by making us think ‘quality’, but feel ‘truth’. It gave us a best case quality to price ratio that everyone could believe in and feel comfort in. Its promise to the nation showed that it understood the true meaning of value, and the true needs of customers. These were incredibly pioneering principles for the time. Their promise signalled a deal that was never ’too good to be true' and positioned the retailer as a trusted advisor who reassured us that we were doing the right thing by purchasing from them.

Fast-forward to 2024, and this reassurance is more important than ever as we slowly move out of a cost-of-living crisis, a crisis that has given us constant price fluctuations that were hard to understand and justify.

And in a world of shopping where deals are not always what they appear to be – see the recent exposure around annual Black Friday promotions – we are craving the honesty and transparency that the return of the John Lewis price promise brings.

And here’s the thing. The British public might not always want simply the very cheapest price. More fundamentally, they don’t want to be fooled. They want a fair price for a good product, from someone they know and trust, that’s delivered to them with reassuringly high levels of customer service. And this is what John Lewis uniquely understands.

Over 100 years John Lewis has become that rare commodity, a British institution built on fairness and dependability that showed us time and again it could be trusted and relied upon.

Since its inception John Lewis has been leading with a noble cause, giving the great British public a fair deal. I think that gives the retailer the right to change its mind and do what it thinks is best, especially when as is the case with ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ John Lewis was the original price guarantee pioneer.”