John Lewis is an enduring presence on the high street, but also one of a number of traditional retailers that has managed to successfully make the transition to offering safe shopping online to its customers. So the news that it is continuing with its e-commerce growth should come as no surprise.

Internet Retailing reports that John Lewis is actually managing to combine the experience of shopping online with in-store activities to a greater degree, thanks to the fact that staff are now trained to help customers place online orders from in-store kiosks.

In total, the retailer enjoyed a 31.4 per cent year-on-year growth in online sales, while 40 per cent more people are now making online purchases from one of its bricks-and-mortar outlets.

The important thing is that John Lewis has found a way to combat the practice of 'showrooming', whereby consumers head to the high street to get some hands-on experience with a product before returning home to buy it online.

Since customers are being engaged with in-store and encouraged to go through with the purchase there and then, John Lewis is capable of making more sales and also building a relationship with shoppers so that they come back again and again.

John Lewis spokesperson David Barford explained that the boost in the number of customer transactions was a sure sign that the firm's online strategy was paying off. He also said that sales had been impressive thanks to the launch of a new range of beauty products, indicating that it is not solely reliant on e-commerce success for future growth.

Waitrose reported similar big increases in online sales this month, showing that it is keeping pace with sister firm John Lewis when it comes to e-commerce innovation and growth.