Department store John Lewis has launched its first virtual shop at Waitrose’s store in Brighton.

John Lewis' virtual shop in Brighton

From today, customers can scan QR codes on pictures of John Lewis products displayed in the store window, which links through to the John Lewis.com mobile site for purchase. When ordered before 7pm, customers can collect in-store from 2pm the following day.

John Lewis is trialling the virtual window until the end of December to extend its click and collect service. Waitrose is a sister company of John Lewis.

The m-commerce venture follows Ocado’s virtual wall in the One New Change shopping centre, which it unveiled in August, while eBay plans to open a virtual pop-up store for five days next week.

The selected products on show include items from the retailer’s ‘Top 30 favourite things for Christmas’, such as kids’ Lego, Amazon’s Kindle e-reader and Hunter wellies.

John Lewis marketing director Craig Inglis said: “The roll-out of our click and collect service to Waitrose shops is proving incredibly popular. This new 24 hour virtual shop in the heart of Brighton takes that convenience to another level.”

Click and collect is available in 129 John Lewis and Waitrose stores.