Our mystery shopper said it was a “pleasure” to shop in your store and that it was well-stocked apart from the fruit, veg and salads. Why was this?
There have been two issues: the Wimbledon effect and, as we are located in a holiday destination, weekend peaks when the children break up from school. We are focused on shop floor standards and ensuring availability to customers. It is all well giving a smiley happy service, but if you don’t have what people want to buy you are losing the battle before you start.
You scored well on shop floor service. Why do you think that is?
I have delegated responsibility for monitoring customers’ satisfaction. Those members create the next steps and strategy. We are a community-centric branch and make sure we give customers what they want.
How is the ‘Pick Your Own Offers’ promotion working?
Fantastic. It is working really well and not just from our existing customers as we have also seen an increase in new customers joining the scheme. It has all gone to plan.
Waitrose has had to monitor its free coffee offer to ensure it is loyalty card holders that are receiving it. How have you dealt with that?
In this branch, we have managed this scenario very well. Staff have taken on responsibility and made sure the customers are looked after.
How often do you visit your rivals?
Staff visit about once a month and I go and look once a week. We look at trends and what sort of things are going on at the moment. We do come back with ideas but more comes from the bespoke retailers than chains.
Have you launched any new features in your store?
We started selling horticulture outside in the spring. It is a limited range but is not something we have done before. There are not many places here where you can buy plants. It has been positively received and has been well worth doing.
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