John Lewis hourly paid staff are to get a 10% increase.
The group will invest £116m increasing the wages of department store staff and at sister chain Waitrose from 1 April, according to reports.
The increase is to be announced when it announces its financial results next week.
Minimum pay rates are expected to rise £12.89 in London and £11.55 per hour nationwide.
The increase would top that announced by Tesco yesterday, of 9.1%, as chains continue to look to retain staff.
While wages will be increased, the group is also looking at significant cost-savings, including reducing the number of roles by up to 11,000 over the next five years.
