Not your average kitchen: John Lewis launches smart home concept at Oxford Street flagship
John Lewis has prepared for the day when homes will be crammed with Wallace and Gromit-style gadgets by launching an area dedicated to smart home technology in its Oxford Street flagship.
The department store chain has today opened a 1,000 square feet space showcasing its most cutting edge range of futuristic inventions – from ovens that can controlled from your phone to smart fridges that do your internet shopping for you.
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The area has been divided into four – kitchen, entertainment, sleep and home monitoring – with John Lewis staff on hand to demonstrate how the gadgets work.
The concept will be eventually rolled out to other shops across the UK starting with John Lewis' new store in Leeds, which opens in the autumn.
“We are seeking to demystify the latest smartest technology for our customers," John Lewis' buying director for electricals and home technology, Johnathan Marsh, said. "In-store experiences are now key as we’ve seen customer demand for physical experiences before committing to purchase increase."
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The retailer said the idea of launching a concept store follows an 81 per cent jump in sales of smart home products over the last year, with 18 times more people searching for such objects on its website.
Some of the new quirky products on sale include Samsung's "Smart Fridge", which has a set of cameras inside the door mean you can check the contents of your fridge from your phone; a bedside device from ResMed that tracks the quality of your sleep, the "Hoover Wizard" oven that allows you to automatically control your oven through your phone whilst you are away from the kitchen.