John Lewis is set to expand into Europe with online trading, opening its website to 25 countries from June.
This will also enable the retailer to gather data on which cities could potentially support physical stores.

John Lewis commercial director Andrea O'Donnell told The Financial Times that physical stores could follow in certain countries depending on levels of online success. "To make a more significant investment, we need to be confident that the demand is worth it," she said.

Initially, European customers will not be able to purchase electrical products or larger items of furniture. According to Ms O'Donnell, the company is also considering the launch of foreign-language websites within 18 months, as well as investment in call-centres and more bespoke marketing campaigns.

The expansion follows a record Christmas for John Lewis in 2010, with the department store chain raking in £545m of sales in the five weeks to January 1.