John Lewis is launching an online chatshow and a social media studio to make the department store chain and its products more visible to chatbots and more prominent in AI search results.
The Gift List “vodcast”, hosted by the television presenter Angela Scanlon (pictured), will air on YouTube, with clips distributed through other social media channels. The format follows the success of Dish, the podcast run by sister chain Waitrose.
Guests will discuss the good and bad presents they have given and received. The broadcaster Louis Theroux will appear on the first show. Six episodes are planned in the run-up to Christmas, with more to follow if the series takes off.
Shift in how customers find products
Peter Ruis, the outgoing managing director of John Lewis, said that a year ago 0.3 per cent of its customers were searching for products through AI large language models such as ChatGPT. That figure has since risen to 2.5 per cent, he said, with usage growing exponentially across all age groups.
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