Waitrose has denied it has poorer stock availability than rivals after reports that a “bungled” IT system update rollout had caused it to have empty shelves across the country.
The supermarket has insisted it has better stock availability than some rivals after a report by The Sunday Times claimed issues with the rollout of a software upgrade - a process which began more than six years ago - were causing poorer stock availability in the run-up to Christmas.
Waitrose said its availability levels across the entire range were currently higher this year than last. Product availability for the week ending 29 October was 94.3%, which The Grocer understands is a 2.9% increase in comparison to the same week in 2021.
The supermarket has disputed the Sunday Times’ claim that the system update – a project led by Oracle and JDA that is costing the company tens of millions of pounds – was behind stock gaps in fresh areas such as cheese.
It said the software upgrade had only been carried out on ambient lines so far, and not fresh. Waitrose said it had also paused the upgrade for peak trading time to avoid disruptions.
“The system improvements we’re making will lead to even better service for our customers,” a Waitrose spokeswoman said.
The Sunday Times today makes claims about product availability in Waitrose. Our customers, who we value hugely, deserve to get the full picture... pic.twitter.com/cXovZEEelM
— Waitrose & Partners (@waitrose) November 6, 2022
Read more: Waitrose’s plan to avoid losing sales to Aldi during the cost of living crisis
Waitrose referred to both internal data and The Grocer’s data on its availability levels.
Results from the latest Grocer 33 annual survey in June showed that Waitrose’s availability decreased to 91.6% from 93.3% a year earlier. However, the supermarket was not alone in seeing availability fall, with other supermarkets’ scores also dropping in the same period due to industry-wide supply chain challenges.
More recently, in October, Waitrose was the Grocer 33 winner on availability twice.
“We’re not complacent and as always we’re working hard to give our customers the best Christmas,” the business said in a statement on social media platforms.
Kantar data released today (8 November) showed Waitrose sales dipped 1.9% in the 12 weeks to 30 October 2022. In contrast, overall take-home grocery sales rose by 5.2% on mounting food price inflation.
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