What’s it like to be a retailer in Southend-on-Sea? Southend has recently become a city, and there’s been a big increase in footfall of late. I think it’s reminded people we are here and are a nice place to visit – we have nine miles of seaside. We’re a big commuter city, so have a lot of high earners. But likewise, whilst you wouldn’t class us as a completely seasonal store, we do have a lot of day trippers and passing trade coming on holiday to Southend and the surrounding beaches.
What’s different about running a seaside shop versus other Waitrose stores you’ve worked at? We tend to be quite quiet during the middle of the day. We have a very busy mid-morning because people want to come in before their day out, and then a very brisk evening trade as people come back in the afternoon. During sunny weather, we see a noticeable uptick in on-demand grocery.
2025 is the hottest year on record. Have you been busier than usual? The sun makes people spend more because they are happy. Every channel has increased as a result, trade has been buoyant and brisk. We try really hard to keep our promo areas full to help drive impulse purchases. We’ve had really good availability over summer, which has helped. We are one of the top five biggest e-commerce stores in the company, with 15 vans delivering as far as Colchester and Grays, and that’s also been increasing.
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How have shoppers reacted to the new online delivery subscriptions? They are delighted with it. People are now shopping with us two or three times a week, rather than just once. Shoppers are changing their orders as well. It just allows people to have the security of buying what they want. For us it’s guaranteed custom, and anecdotally, I have had shoppers come back to us because they couldn’t secure their preferred delivery slot elsewhere.
Our shopper enjoyed the Lipton Iced tea bus in the car park. Are tastings something Waitrose is putting more focus on? We were one of the first stores to pilot Waitrose’s new Passionate Partners Training last year and as a result we’re quite a leader in tastings. We do weekly tastings in stores of hero lines, and a lot of BWS. There are lots of exciting things to come regarding activations, so watch this space.
How are you improving the store experience? We are hopefully receiving a big refurbishment next year. New fixtures, new counters, plenty of refrigeration, new lighting. It just brings out that ‘passion for food’ for customers and makes us a place they want to visit.
The big news last week was James Bailey stepping down as Waitrose MD. How do you feel? He’s done a sterling job coming out of a really difficult time when he joined in Covid and is leaving firmly on a high. The business has had to adapt and change, and we are firmly on course with that.
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