Winner: Sainsbury’s Shorehead
Store manager: Andy Stanbridge
Opened: 1992
Size: 63,000 sq ft
Market share: 18.3%
Nearest rivals: Asda - 0.2 miles, Morrisons - 1.9 miles, Tesco - 6 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI. Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000
How does it feel to win The Grocer 33 once again? Absolutely fantastic. It’s always a great call to receive. This is the third time my store has won, but the first at this store. I was also a finalist for Store Manager of the Year in 2009.
How has your store been coping with the hot weather? Really well. We have seen some massive sales increases on the products you’d expect to do well, but also on clothing - especially women’s summer clothes and men’s shorts.
What about food? The growth in ice creams has been phenomenal. Last week on produce was our strongest in quite some time, with growth of 10%. Counters are also up 15% year on year.
Has availability remained high despite the peak in demand? I can honestly say the supply chain has been fantastic. We have had no trouble at all. It’s getting better and better now we have new systems coming in that are simplifying it all. I’ve been at Sainsbury’s 27 years and its systems have really moved on in that time.
Our mystery shopper awarded your store full marks for shop floor service. What do you do to ensure service is good? Staff receive customer service training at induction and throughout the year, but my real focus is on smiling. I have unscientifically worked out that if all the staff smile, the store could gain an extra £500,000 in sales a year because they’re happy, and the customers are happy and will therefore want to spend more and come back.
And has it worked? Yes. In our internal mystery shopper surveys, we score really highly on interaction with customers. We practice this through roleplay in our team huddles. We’re one of the top stores in the Northern region for interaction and engagement with customers. Sainsbury’s is also rolling out a new Great Service Leadership Programme so that we create magic moments for our customers.
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