What is selling well in-store at the moment? Sales have generally been really good. Fruit and vegetables has nearly broken into double-digit growth this year and we had a very successful Mother’s Day – we saw a double-digit uplift compared with this time last year.
How do you think Waitrose’s pledge on brand price matching with Tesco is performing? We have worked really hard on it and it seems to be performing really well. What we have seen is an increase in footfall into our branch as well as an increase in the size of the average basket. Plus the advertising campaigns featuring Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal are still prompting a great deal of interest among shoppers, and we will have a few more surprises from them throughout the year. We also worked really hard over the past year with the launch of our Essential range of products.
Does your store use the individual “quick check” scanners? It does. We went live this year. As you might expect, we have a large number of affluent retired people in Eastbourne. We did wonder how older people might take to the scanners, but they have really bought into the concept and embraced them. Every store carries out a random check for scanning inaccuracies, but in terms of stock loss or shrinkage, our quick check branches are no different to any other branch.
How is Waitrose’s online arm performing at your store? At this store, Waitrose delivery sales have grown by 55% compared with last year. It is a great success. I think that nationwide it has grown by about 44%. As a result we have had to extend our delivery windows, take on more drivers and bring in extra vans. And I think it will continue to grow.
How long have you been with Waitrose? Six years. In the past four years I have been at this store. Before that I worked for Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Safeway. And I nearly went to Asda at one point. I like working for Waitrose because of the way we are treated as individuals. Your opinions and views are listened to, which I found very different to my experiences with the others. We have had sustained growth at this store over the past four years and there is no sign of that abating. I put that down to the partners at work. It is a result of how much they care about the customers, and the pride they take in delivering great results.
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