John Lewis has revealed it will be making a significant investment in its IT department, with up to 50 new hires expected to join the retail firm this year.
The retailer is expecting to hire IT specialists in roles such as project managers, business analysts, systems analysts, solutions architects and developers. It is thought that 30 will be hired immediately with the remaining 20 likely to be employed by the end of 2012.
Owen Roberts, recruitment manager for John Lewis said the company has identified technology as a key growth factor.
"Technology has been identified as one of the most important drivers of our business growth," he said in a statement. "We are now looking for talented IT professionals to join our team and help us take multi-channel retail to the next level, cementing our reputation as an industry leader."
Other recent technology improvements made at the store includes two platforms from SaaS IT service management (ITSM) firm ServiceNow as well as an iPhone app and specialised mobile site.
"Access to the internet from a mobile device is projected to overtake the frequency of access from PCs over the next few years; it’s not just smartphones, as we’re now seeing more and more tablets come onto the market and the way they’re being designed for and used," said Kirsten Mayne, project manager, johnlewis.com.
"Before we launched the mobile website, we could see that accessing the internet via a mobile device was becoming an important way to shop for many of our customers, and we wanted to find a way to give them a better browsing experience," she added.
John Lewis operates around 35 stores across the UK and pulls in over £3bn in revenue. It flagship branch is on London’s Oxford Street. Its parent company, John Lewis Partnership, is an employee-owned organisation that also runs Waitrose supermarkets.
