Waitrose is to sell John Lewis kitchen and homewares products on its website and in its top performing stores.

Part of the John Lewis Partnership, the upmarket supermarket is now forging to closer links with the department store division in an attempt to compete with its high street rivals.

Under the joint venture, thousands of Waitrose and John Lewis products will be sold at the Waitrose.com homeshop from August 4. They will also be available in some stores.

Customers can have the goods they ordered through the new online service homeshop, either delivered to their homes or they can collect them directly from their local Waitrose branch.

The retailer said that it will also launch a Waitrose Foodhall at the John Lewis store in the Bluewater shopping centre, hoping to boost both brands.

All the homeware and kitchen products to be made available through the joint venture will be sold in Waitrose stores in future, the firms revealed in a joint statement.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: “Working in collaboration with John Lewis and having their products as part of our range will strengthen Waitrose’s presence on the high street even more and will give us a real opportunity to rival our four main competitors with an exceptional non-food offer which will be unmatched.”