Our shopper was really impressed with the in-store service. Is that something you have been working on? We are really focused on it, as is the whole company. There has been a noticeable difference since Morrisons’ HOT scheme. It’s working really well and making us much more focused on the customer. This win is the culmination of a lot of hard work. 

How is the Morrisons Millions giveaway going? We had a £100 winner in the store 20 minutes ago! It has been really well received and there is always a group of people stood around the winning numbers board. For every pound you spend you get an entry into the draw. Three customers win £100 every day in every single shop. There is also Super Saturday where one person in the UK has a chance of winning £25,000. 

It seemed like a quick response to rivals’ headlining promotions. How much advance warning did you get? These things are kept very quiet, but we get the right amount of notice that we need in order to plan and prepare. It is something the company keep close to their chests so we can spring it on the competition! 

Do you think a prize giveaway is better than a price guarantee? I think it is a refreshing change for customers. We have very clever people working on very clever mechanics that encourage more customers to make more trips to the store. We are competitive on price, but our really great positives are our food and Market Street. 

Do you think shoppers are getting fed up with gimmicky promotions? I think there is some apathy there. And shoppers try and work around those price guarantee promotions and trick them. Customers are not daft and they can see through some of these campaigns.
 
What is selling well in your store right now? Our new ready meals are just phenomenal. The packaging looks great, and the food matches up. I have tried a lot of it and think it’s fantastic. I’m on a mission to try and sample all of it. We have increased our ready meal space by a third and we are getting some great growth. 

It’s Halloween this weekend. How have sales been in the build-up? Halloween has gone exceptionally well. We have a bigger and better range than we had last year and we gave it a third more space. It launched five weeks ago and people are still buying now. 

What do you like about working for Morrisons? I love the innovation. It’s a really exciting time to be working here. Dalton Phillips has been pivotal to a lot of those changes – he is really driving us forward.

Topics