John Lewis launches furniture rental service with Fat Llama
John Lewis is partnering with product rental marketplace Fat Llama to offer a furniture rental service to customers.
The new offering will allow customers to rent items such as desks, chairs, dining tables and sofas for three, six or twelve month periods. In addition, they will have the option to buy the items at any time throughout the rental period with payments already made deducted from the purchase price. The longer customers commit to renting, the lower the rental price.
Furniture will be delivered by Fat Llama within two working days and, if needed, the company will offer help with the set up. Customers will also be able to use the company for the collection of products at the end of the agreement. Returned items will then be cleaned and refurbished if necessary before being rented again.
The service will be offered via Fat Llama’s ‘Flex Rental’ website where the company already offers tech products and electric scooters for rent.
Initially offered in the Greater London area, the service could be rolled out to other areas of the UK depending on demand.
Johnathan Marsh, director of home at John Lewis, said: “Attitudes towards renting items and the sharing economy have dramatically shifted in recent years, and we know that renting, reselling items and recycling them is a growing priority for our customers.
“Renting furniture will give more customers access to our high quality furniture, as well as the latest designs. It also offers them the flexibility to enjoy living with a bold, trend-led piece of furniture that they may not want forever, to easily change style, size and type of furniture if they are moving to a new rental property, or just need a stylish desk to temporarily work from home. All with the piece of mind that they are making more sustainable choices.”
