John Lewis is ramping investment in content creation as product discovery via AI
shopping agents increases — searches from AI agents rose from 0.3% a year ago to
2.5% and are accelerating, management said, calling the trend exponential across
age groups. The department store opened a studio at its Oxford Street flagship
for influencers to record daily content that AI systems will harvest and is
producing its own video content. Management said UK consumers remain very
cautious on discretionary spending amid rising inf and rates.
