Waitrose is rolling out new customer service training for store workers as it looks to “raise the bar” of its in-store experience and the level of service provided in its supermarkets.
The programme – called Passionate Partners – has been introduced to 58 branches as part of a pilot that began in September. There are plans to roll it out across more of Waitrose’s 330 stores in the new year, The Grocer understands.
It reflects a renewed emphasis on improving customer service levels across both Waitrose and John Lewis, as the John Lewis Partnership continues to kick on with its turnaround plan.
Each partner now undergoes three to four hours of additional learning, on top of Waitrose’s existing training. It involves a mixture of online courses and in-person training, including dedicated sessions in which partners learn about and try new Waitrose products.
The aim overall is that partners will feel more confident to recommend new products to customers, and will be more “proactive” in answering customer questions on the shop floor.
Around 8,000 partners have currently undergone, or are set to participate in, the training.
“We’re incredibly proud of what our partners already achieve, but we’re always looking to raise the bar,” a Waitrose spokesman told The Grocer.
“Our Passionate Partners programme is helping us achieve this by putting as much passion into our service as we do into our food – wrapping exceptional service around the products that we offer.
“The training has already been really well received by our partners, who are enjoying a balance of face-to-face training and e-learning content. They’re especially enjoying the tastings of a range of our products to share recommendations with our food-loving customers,” the spokesman said.
Customer service now Waitrose’s crucial difference
Waitrose has long pushed superior customer service as a key part of its brand and appeal. However, the perception that standards had declined was a key reason cited as being behind its struggles and market share decline over the past couple of years.
The Grocer understands Waitrose now views customer service as its most important point of difference, and its key advantage over rival grocers, which have closed the gap on product quality and remain more competitive on price in the main.
However, the John Lewis Partnership has the long-term goal of trimming its headcount by thousands over the next few years, as part of its cost-saving turnaround plan. Therefore the business has been investing into making service more efficient so the reduction does not come at a cost to customers.
The new training follows the rollout of Waitrose’s Simpler Shops programme since September 2023. The programme led to a mass realignment of shift patterns in stores, as well as the introduction of more tech like headsets across the business.
Partners now work 17,400 more hours on Saturdays and Sundays, “when our stores are busiest” as a result of the change, Waitrose retail director Tina Mitchell claimed in an August op-ed in The Grocer.
Waitrose later also restructured its Bracknell ‘retail support centre’ in July, with the creation of a dedicated team that now monitors service and standards in Waitrose stores nationwide.
It’s come alongside a series of more experiential pilots in stores, including the reintroduction of disposable coffee cups for MyWaitrose members, as well as a renewed signage campaign underlining Waitrose’s commitment to manned checkouts in stores.
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