The department store operator knows there is more to in-store technology than toys or run-of-the-mill visual displays.

At a time when retailers everywhere seem intent on finding ways of harnessing ‘technology’ to create more engaging customer environments, hats off to John Lewis on Oxford Street for doing the right thing. As usual in this vast emporium part of the ground floor is being revamped. This time it’s the beauty hall - slap bang next to the point at which the majority of visitors enter the building.

And equally predictably, there are hoardings informing the curious that John Lewis is busy creating a new beauty department that will be ready for us to admire later this year. It will probably be a thing of, erm, beauty, but in the meantime it serves to make this vast shop just that little bit more tricky to navigate.

One of the better things however about the John Lewis flagship is that there are always smart looking types on hand to help wearing green sashes that bear the legend “Information”. Yesterday was no exception, except that this time the Partner whose job it was to inform shoppers about where things are was not empty-handed. This time an iPad was being clutched and when a Japanese tourist enquired about the whereabouts of the nearest Ermengildo Zegna store, the gadget was consulted and an answer was forthcoming.

There was even advice on which tube line to take when the shopping mission was complete - again, thanks to the iPad. This was, of course, peripheral to the normal job of the information provider, which is to offer directions to, say, the new Cath Kidston shop-in-shop (it’s in the basement near the food hall if you need to visit) or where the toilets are.

All in all, a perfectly simple and outstandingly useful application of technology to make the in-store experience more straightforward and generally better. And the fact that the ‘partner’ knew exactly where everything was on the iPad meant you didn’t have to spend ages while you tried to operate the thing yourself - which is the norm in most iPad-enabled stores.

In-store technology still seems, in many instances, to equate to toys to be played with or somewhat lacklustre visual displays that do little to stop you in your tracks. What John Lewis on Oxford Street offers is the chance to benefit from a piece of technology that is put to work and which has a real purpose. Others could do a lot worse than consider how something similar might be done.

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