BBC2 is to air a documentary looking at John Lewis’s “military campaign-style” preparations for Christmas, from the making of its festive TV campaign to the pressure of coping with Black Friday.
The one-hour documentary, presented by Cherry Healey, promises a fly-on-the-wall look from “the shop floor to head office” as John Lewis prepares for the Christmas retail season.
“It’s been fascinating having the opportunity to really see close-up how the British retail world prepares and plans for its busiest and most crucial time of the year, Christmas,” said Healey. “Competition is rife and retailers are working even harder to attract customers to their high street stores while at the same time taking on the established online global giants.”
The documentary, Christmas Shopping Fever: John Lewis and the Retail Race, charts preparations from the press launch in July, to catering for a new breed of online shoppers, to the opening of a new store in Birmingham.
More than half of many retailers’ profits are made in the last quarter of the year, which makes the battle to win Christmas a “year-long, full-scale military campaign”.
“Despite the months of planning, with each passing day, you can feel the pressure mounting,” said Healey. “Logistics teams are moving into overdrive, extra staff are in place and the delivery teams are on perpetual standby – the frenzy of Christmas has well and truly begun.”
The documentary will air at 9.30pm on Wednesday 23 December.
