British retailer John Lewis is now moving into selling smartphones, for the first time. The electricals section of the store will now stock a selected array of phones from HTC, LG, Motorola and Microsoft. From today the phones are available online, with Apple iPhones joining the line in July, SIM-free.

It isn’t just SIM-free phones that John Lewis are offering, in the Oxford Street store, staff will also try and sell you a contract with Vodafone.

Just like in other retailers that sell mobile phone contracts, the store will have a dedicated section which allows customers to try out the phones and then talk to staff from Vodafone, basically its like having a mini Vodafone within John Lewis. The Vodafone mini stores will start appearing in Cheadle in August and in Oxford Street in September. Also Vodafone and John Lewis have a good deal on guarantees, any phone which is purchased will have a two-year guarantee and any contract taken out with Vodafone will have an extra two years of free accidental damage insurance.

It isn’t just HTC, LG, Motorola and Microsoft that John Lewis are selling, phones from Samsung and Sony will also pop up. Selling Samsung phones in John Lewis makes sense as most of the stores have Samsung specialists in the store.