When 2 become 1: John Lewis merges online, offline sales

Tags: Multichannel Retailing John Lewis, a popular UK department store, is merging online and offline sales with a virtual store allowing shoppers to buy products with smartphones via QR codes. According to Power Retail, the Brighton Waitrose store features a window display where shoppers can scan QR codes to purchase items from the retailer's 'Top 30 Favorite Things for Christmas' including Lego and the Amazon Kindle. After scanning a QR code, the shopper is linked to the John Lewis mobile site to make the purchase. Products ordered before 7 p.m. are available for in-store pick the following day. "The