Store: Waitrose Egham
Team manager: Connor Field
Opened: 2015
Size: 26,180 sq ft
Market share: 12.7%
Population: 221,950
Grocery spend: £6,099,696
Spend by household: £69
Competitors: 47
Nearest rivals: Aldi 3.3 miles, Asda 1.6 miles, Co-op 1 mile, Iceland 0.1 miles, Lidl 1.5 miles, M&S 0.4 miles, Morrisons 5.7 miles, Sainsbury’s 1.1 miles, Tesco 0.1 miles, Waitrose 4.4 miles
Source: CACI. For more info visit www.caci.co.uk/contact. Notes: Shopper profiling is measured using Grocery Acorn shopper segmentation. Store catchment data (market share, population, expenditure, spend by household, competition) is within a five-mile radius.
Tell us a little about your career so far. I’ve been at Waitrose for around 10 years and over that time I have held various positions in different branches across the south east. I actually came here to Egham at the start of the pandemic so it was a very interesting time to start a new role.
How was it coming into a new store and getting to know a whole new team at that time? It was a challenge but the team here were fantastic and we really pride ourselves on great shopkeeping. There was a real focus on getting customers into and around the store quickly as well as keeping then safe, and providing them with the level of stock and service they had become accustomed to. I think we did this really well, and it was something that customers told us they appreciated. Indeed, many of the shoppers who were visiting us for the first time during those pandemic times have stayed loyal and remain regulars in the branch.
Speaking of Covid, we are seeing case rates rising again – how is that affecting you? So far we are managing OK. We continue to tell staff who test positive for Covid not to come in and we are still offering free lateral flow tests for partners who want to access them. We also continue as partners to try and keep our distance from customers when we are out on the shopfloor, as we know that is still very important for many of our shoppers.
What do you put your win down to this week? It is a great performance from the whole team. We are always working really hard on delivering strong availability levels, cleanliness and ensuring all our shoppers receive great customer service. We also have a lot of great in-store theatre and sampling opportunities that our customers love.
The key demographic in your area is families. How does the store appeal to these customers? Our customers are primarily food lovers who value the provenance and commitments we make on sourcing and supporting suppliers and producers. We do a great job of meeting their needs.
We are currently facing a cost of living crisis. How does your store cater for those families in the current economic climate? It is twofold: firstly we have the Essential Waitrose range which is providing great value without compromising on quality, high welfare and strong sustainability credentials. It’s a really broad range with over 1,000 items. And we also have the recently relaunched MyWaitrose range. That has gone down very well will customers and we are getting lots of positive feedback – in fact, one customer told me yesterday that he loved the initiative as he has a particularly fussy cat, and so he is able to make good savings on his catfood.
Temperatures are soaring right now – what are you seeing in terms of sales? Our new summer ranges are going really well right now – we have some fantastic new products including new ice creams. My personal favourite is the new banoffee pie ice cream, which is totally delicious – if you get a chance you need to give it a try. But as well as that, we are also on alert as partners to make sure that our customers are keeping cool in store, encouraging them to drink lots of water and keeping an eye on elderly shoppers in particular.
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