John Lewis has announced it is partnering with the Co-op to launch a click-and-collect trial in six of its food stores.

The department store chain said that it would be partnering with the convenience store retailer to give “new and existing customers access to its next-day click-and-collect services” in areas with a lower John Lewis shop presence.

The trial will initially be launched in the Co-op’s Manchester Support Centre shop, with five further locations to roll out from May 28.

The six participating Co-op branches are:

  • Angel Square, Manchester
  • Manchester Piccadilly
  • Trent Bridge, Nottingham
  • Dulwich – Lordship Lane, London
  • Westhorne Avenue, London
  • Hither Green, London

As well as being able to collect John Lewis products, customers will also be able to return orders to the above locations during the trial.

Head of customer fulfilment operations at John Lewis Eva Cullen said: “Our Click & Collect service is growing in popularity every year as our customers benefit from the ease of being able to pick up their order at a time and place which is convenient to them.

“We are always looking for new ways to be more convenient for our customers and to reach new customers, and the success of this trial would present the opportunity to roll out the service to more shops.”

Director of innovation and format Mark Pettigrew said: “It is all about creating ease, convenience and choice for today’s time-pressed shopper. This is an exciting development, innovations and new technologies are driving a number of initiatives and creating value in our communities through increased offers and services for our members and customers.”

John Lewis launched a similar click-and-collect trial with Booths last year, which has now been rolled out to eight stores. Since launch, the retailer said that 45% of click-and-collect orders made to these Booths stores are from new customers.