Waitrose is gearing up for rapid rollout of its store based online shopping service Waitrose Deliver after ironing out technical problems in its picking system. So far, progress has been tentative, with the service only available from six stores in Petersfield, Stevenage, Abingdon, Stroud, Daventry and Buckhurst Hill, despite claims at its launch last March that it would be available from 30 stores by the end of 2001. Director of selling and marketing Mark Price said Waitrose Deliver would now be rolled out to 36 stores outside the M25 by the end of June, complementing the fledging service from warehouse based service Ocado, which would focus on the London market. Price said he was confident the service would prove profitable with a new, more efficient picking system. Data from pilot stores revealed Waitrose Deliver's average basket size was "way ahead of Tesco and Sainsbury," said Price. The service has been extremely popular. We've got 5,000 registered customers at Abingdon alone. But I didn't want to roll it out until I was absolutely confident the new picking system worked perfectly. "This will move into profit quickly. We're rolling out a fully tested system and the R&D costs are already accounted for. Our substitution rate is also better than average." Waitrose posted a 13% rise in sales for the year to January 31, and Price indicated like-for- like sales were "north of 6%", placing Waitrose in line with or ahead of its multiple rivals. The chain will look to open about five or six new stores a year for the forseeable future, said Price, looking as far afield as Cheshire and Yorkshire for sites that could be serviced from the Milton Keynes depot. "We're not geographically constrained. What we're looking for is the right demographics." Waitrose is opening five new stores this year bringing its tally to 141. {{NEWS }}

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