asda christmas staff

Asda and Tesco have pleged thousands of additional staff on shop floors to help customers in the last two weeks of Christmas shopping.

Asda says part of their £4m investment will be used to fund 8,000 ‘Go-Getters for Forgetters’ into its 601 stores. These extra staff will be available to fetch forgotten items for customers who are already queuing at the tills. Stores will also have the opportunity to choose where else to invest in customer service - whether this is in extra staff in the aisles or in car parks.

All Asda staff have also been given ‘festive finders’ for the first time, which allows staff to note down where popular Christmas items are situated, meaning they can take customers straight to the correct aisle of the store.

“We introduced our ‘Go-Getters for Forgetters’ in a handful of stores five years ago to get anything customers had forgotten without keeping others waiting at the tills - this Christmas, we’ve invested an additional £4m into customer service for the busiest two weeks of the year, meaning customers have more help than ever before,” said Asda’s director of people and stores Hayley Tatum.

The team also has new, giant ‘space here’ signs to point the way to the shortest queues.

Meanwhile, Tesco is unleashing 4,000 staff to help shoppers navigate stores in the run up to Christmas.

Starting on From Saturday, the “here to help” colleagues will be positioned in Tesco’s 700 larger stores, which will also have Christmas greeters on the door.

Tesco’s 1,700 Express convenience stores will also for the first time have a dedicated colleague in place on Christmas Eve to help customers find last-minute buys.The staff will be a combination of existing store colleagues and seasonal part time staff

“We all know what a busy time Christmas can be, so our colleagues will be on hand to help in any way they can, whether that’s helping to find that last minute Christmas present or greeting customers with that extra bit of festive cheer,” said Tony Hoggett, UK retail director at Tesco .

“And for the first time, we will have a colleague dedicated to helping customers in each of our smaller Express stores this Christmas Eve when we know customers are busy trying to find those last minute essentials.”

Hoggett said 5,000 head office colleagues would also be playing their part in the run-up to the big day by taking part in Tesco’s Feet on the Floor programme.