John Lewis pins its hopes on an extraordinary Black Friday as it reclaims its ‘never knowingly undersold’ promise

John Lewis is pinning its hopes on a bumper Black Friday after it brought back its ‘never knowingly undersold’ promise.

The department store owner said online searches for its Black Friday deals were up 73 percent compared to last year thanks to the reintroduction of the historic slogan.

This follows a “significant increase” in searches since the September decision, the firm said.

E-commerce director Steve Masterton said: “The early signs showing interest in Black Friday are really strong and position John Lewis as a really key player in that market.”

Expect about 12 online orders per second this weekend, up from four per second on Monday.

After cutting 100,000 prices, there has been a “huge halo effect” on the company, he said.

The “never knowingly undersold” promise was scrapped in August 2022, even though it dates back to 1925.

Black Friday is an American shopping discount day, but it has been imported to the UK with sales starting at the end of November.

Chief operating officer Naomi Simcock added: “Our ambition is to establish John Lewis as the retailer of choice for Black Friday shopping.”

“We are optimistic that our combination of an exceptional range and a seamless customer experience, backed by our modernized ‘never knowingly undersold’ price promise, will help us achieve this.”

Best sellers include the £39 printed wool jumper featured in their Christmas advert and range.

of towels. The technology is also expected to work well. Chief executive Nish Kankiwala has said “the rumors are back” at the group, which also owns Waitrose.

There have been long-awaited signs of progress in the retailer’s turnaround mission.

But this week consumer group Which? accused John Lewis of “misleading” shoppers by exaggerating its Black Friday savings, for example by advertising discounts at a comparably higher price than months ago.

Across the sector, in-store and online spending will be 3 percent higher than on Black Friday last year, according to data firm Rendle Insights and Intelligence.

But sales fell 0.7 per cent last month as budget speculation worries consumers, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed last week.