Waitrose's Food & Home branch in Salisbury was one of four retailers to offer strong availability, but its friendly staff went out of their way to assist our shopper, which helped it land our top store award.
One assistant escorted our shopper to the tinned sweetcorn, then asked her if she needed help finding anything else. There was no queue and the chatty checkout assistant efficiently scanned the items and called another staff member over to pack her bags.
Our shopper had no complaints about his visit t0 Tesco in Milngavie, but there was a longer wait at the till. Staff around the aisles were happy to help and the receipt was free of mistakes.
A littered entrance and staff who seemed unsure about the location of certain items let Asda in Longsight down. Plenty of tills were open, though, and the checkout assistant greeted our shopper.
Sainsbury's in Tollgate also had a littered entrance and our shopper was not charged for the digestives or the Birds Eye Garden Peas. All the tills were open, but she still had to queue for six minutes. Staff around the aisles were helpful and the checkout assistant was "incredibly chatty".
Morrisons in Aylesbury disappointed on availability, with two out-of-stock items. However, the store was tidy, the queue was short and the checkout assistant made polite conversation with our shopper, then packed without asking.
Winner: Chris Blows, store manager, Waitrose , Salisbury
Tell me about the range assortment in your store. We are a Food & Home store, which is a larger format at 52,000 sq ft. Half of our stock is food and half is non-food, which includes home lines, clothing and accessories from John Lewis. We also have a café, dry cleaning service, petrol station and a post office, which drive footfall to the store. Value sales are up 1.47% compared with last year, which I think is impressive considering what a tough year it has been for everyone. It just goes to show how hard the team has worked.
How are your non-food sales faring? We have seen such a huge upturn during the last three to four months. It seems customers are beginning to relax their hold on their purse strings. Six months ago, our non-food sales were down 12% year-on-year in the store but now they are down just 1%. This is partly because we have added to certain ranges, such as accessories and baby lines.
What's next for your store? We are looking at upgrading our refrigerators and fresh counters. We are also planning to offer our shoppers a wider range of non-food from John Lewis. We will do this by providing computers in-store so that if we don't stock what they are looking for, they can sit down and order it. We currently offer this service on our white goods, such as washing machines but are looking to extend it to more lines. We also want to introduce a pharmacy.
Who's your biggest competitor in Salisbury? Tesco. It is a bigger store and has a large proportion of non-food, like we do. Our customers shop with us because of the attractive assortment we offer. They are loyal to the Waitrose brand and have high expectations of us.
What impact have new Waitrose store openings had on your branch? We have sent support to a number of branches, such as Winchester and Bridport, which meant some management staff had to be relocated for a while. Therefore I have had to train the team to be flexible and work on each other's patches. Some have been given management roles for the first time and they have helped achieve fantastic results.
One assistant escorted our shopper to the tinned sweetcorn, then asked her if she needed help finding anything else. There was no queue and the chatty checkout assistant efficiently scanned the items and called another staff member over to pack her bags.
Our shopper had no complaints about his visit t0 Tesco in Milngavie, but there was a longer wait at the till. Staff around the aisles were happy to help and the receipt was free of mistakes.
A littered entrance and staff who seemed unsure about the location of certain items let Asda in Longsight down. Plenty of tills were open, though, and the checkout assistant greeted our shopper.
Sainsbury's in Tollgate also had a littered entrance and our shopper was not charged for the digestives or the Birds Eye Garden Peas. All the tills were open, but she still had to queue for six minutes. Staff around the aisles were helpful and the checkout assistant was "incredibly chatty".
Morrisons in Aylesbury disappointed on availability, with two out-of-stock items. However, the store was tidy, the queue was short and the checkout assistant made polite conversation with our shopper, then packed without asking.
Winner: Chris Blows, store manager, Waitrose , Salisbury
Tell me about the range assortment in your store. We are a Food & Home store, which is a larger format at 52,000 sq ft. Half of our stock is food and half is non-food, which includes home lines, clothing and accessories from John Lewis. We also have a café, dry cleaning service, petrol station and a post office, which drive footfall to the store. Value sales are up 1.47% compared with last year, which I think is impressive considering what a tough year it has been for everyone. It just goes to show how hard the team has worked.
How are your non-food sales faring? We have seen such a huge upturn during the last three to four months. It seems customers are beginning to relax their hold on their purse strings. Six months ago, our non-food sales were down 12% year-on-year in the store but now they are down just 1%. This is partly because we have added to certain ranges, such as accessories and baby lines.
What's next for your store? We are looking at upgrading our refrigerators and fresh counters. We are also planning to offer our shoppers a wider range of non-food from John Lewis. We will do this by providing computers in-store so that if we don't stock what they are looking for, they can sit down and order it. We currently offer this service on our white goods, such as washing machines but are looking to extend it to more lines. We also want to introduce a pharmacy.
Who's your biggest competitor in Salisbury? Tesco. It is a bigger store and has a large proportion of non-food, like we do. Our customers shop with us because of the attractive assortment we offer. They are loyal to the Waitrose brand and have high expectations of us.
What impact have new Waitrose store openings had on your branch? We have sent support to a number of branches, such as Winchester and Bridport, which meant some management staff had to be relocated for a while. Therefore I have had to train the team to be flexible and work on each other's patches. Some have been given management roles for the first time and they have helped achieve fantastic results.
No comments yet