John Lewis & Partners launches ‘Virtual Christmas Tree’ to make festive shopping simple

For launch, ‘Virtual Christmas Tree’ will be available across half of the Christmas trees sold at John Lewis and customers can virtually view in their home decorated or undecorated. Shoppers can use the feature to narrow down decisions, making shopping time in store quicker and simpler, or purchase right there and then on the app. 

Cassandra Bergland, Director of Omnichannel, said: “Virtual Christmas Tree is certainly a lot of fun to use. You can browse trees of different shapes, sizes and colours and then choose whether to have the tree decorated or left natural. The Virtual Christmas Tree feature gives customers the chance to explore the range in their own space before buying, meaning they can feel confident with their final choice.”

Jason Billings-Cray, Partner and Assistant Christmas Buyer, said: “The festive season may not be quite the same for everyone this year, so we are pleased to be able to bring some of the magical elements of Christmas shopping that you find in John Lewis shops to customers at home. Choosing a Christmas tree can be a really special moment for any family as that tree can be with them for many years, this may be a little different but all the family can see and choose one.”

How to use Virtual Christmas Tree:

• Open the John Lewis & Partners app

• Search or browse for Christmas Trees in the app and look for the “View in room” label for trees that you can view virtually. 

• Open the product page and tap the “View in your room” button.

• Tap Get Started, hold the phone towards the floor and move slowly from side to side to scan the room

• When a square appears tap it to load the Christmas Tree onto the screen

• Double tap to turn dimensions off and on

• Use one finger to move the product around the screen and two fingers to rotate the product for a full 360 view

The launch of Virtual Christmas Tree follows the successful trials of John Lewis’ Virtual Lipstick feature launched last year and Virtual Sofa which launched in January, both experiences enable customers the chance to test hundreds of lipstick colours or sofas and armchairs in real time before buying. 

The ‘Virtual Christmas Tree’ technology was developed in-house, and is available to anyone using the John Lewis & Partners app on an IOS13 or later enabled device.  

Download the John Lewis app today.

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