Anyone know anything about Waitrose?

[IBM]

Bit of a long shot, but I'm doing a marketing analysis on Waitrose for my MBA and haven't had a lot of luck getting information through official channels. Was just wondering if there's anyone in here with information on supermarkets in general and Waitrose specifically that might help in a marketing audit and resulting plan (probably focusing on loyalty cards).

As I said, it's a long shot.....

[Funkstar]

You could PM Rastamanblues if he doesn't spot this thread. He used to work there.

[digit]

I have worked at waitrose for just over 4 years, might be able to help you out, give me a PM.

It might be worth you having a read through the Grocer magazine available in shops and with a lot of stuff online: The Grocer - Retail News, UK Market Insights & Retail Reports | Est 1862

Quite a fair few comparisons made each issue between the different supermarkets sales statistics etc etc

[Merlin4458]

worked there for 2 years, but depends specifically on what u want as to wether i can help. What u after exactly

[Howard]

I worked there too. Did my business studies coursework at college on them too

[IBM]

Gee, who would have thunk it.

I'm putting together a marketing analysis of Waitrose (current position, SWOT, PESTLE, Porters 5 forces....stop me if you understand anything ) focusing on their loyalty card scheme (or lack of). Anyone who has any insight into the Waitrose mentality, business ethos, marketing strategies, facts, figures, stuff like that would be very well received.

Just trying to get an insight into the company and how they run, to get a feel for them and what's going on right now in the current economic situation.

Digit...many thanks for the Grocer pointer. I had it down in my notes for research material and had completely forgotton about it. Cheers. May well PM you later in the day...

[Howard]

I will see if I can find any of my A-Level work later

[Zak33]

Waitrose are more producer focused than any other supermarket

[Saracen]

I can't give you facts and figures, but can perhaps throw a bit of light on business ethos and mentality.

Waitrose are part of the John Lewis group, and as such, follow the ethos defined by their founder and enshrined in the company constitution .... to which effect, staff are "partners" not employees, and both staff and customers are treated, generally, better than at most supermarkets.

An example of the business method comes out in some of the training staff get. For instance, if you ask in many supermarkets "Where's the <insert random product>", you'll probably get a "Over there, mate" with a pointed finger, or perhaps "lane 18 sir". With Waitrose, they'll take you there, and make sure you find what you're looking for.

And a couple of examples about customer service. I recently queried a section manager in Waitrose about whether they'd stopped doing minty peas. She checked with the relevant section manager, and confirmed that they hadn't seen them in sotre for quite a while, but weren't aware of any decision to explicitly stop. So she asked if I preferred peas of petit pois, then picked a bag of peas and a separate packet of organic mint from the shelf, and gave the to the cashier with instructions to put them through as complimentary items when I checked out. She suggested trying the mint in with the peas when cooked, on the basis of having lost nothing if it didn't work.

On another occasion, I had a Brita water filter I'd bought as part of a six-pack. But when I opened it, it was badly cracked. A while later, I happened to spot the manager in store, and asked him what Waitrose policy about that was. He replaced not just the broken filter, but the whole pack. And I hadn't even taken the broken one with me, and couldn't have produced proof I'd even bought it at Waitrose. After all, it was the fifth filter in a six pack and they last a month or more. Who keeps a supermarket receipt for 6 months?

Both of those examples are typical of Waitrose' customer-centric viewpoint.

As for stats or numbers, can't help much there, beyond saying that they're mainly and historically a South, South-East and London-based group. They have, however, recently opened a distribution facility for the North and are expanding significantly in that direction. This is not so much a "test the water" thing as a deliberate and major policy decision to go national. The first Scottish stores were opened a year or so ago.

And, of course, having put the distribution (warehousing) in place for the North, which is quite expensive to do, and having redesigned warehousing computer systems to be able to handle multiple warehouses rather than a single warehouse, which is also a major undertaking, you then need to use that facility enough to to justify it's existence.

But compared to Tesco, Sainsbury, etc, Waitrose are still small-fry. They have, what, about 200 stores in total. It's going up, and they've bought and/or converted about 30 in the last couple of years, with a planned program of about half a dozen a year going forward. But they're still small compared to the big boys.

In my opinion, you can also generally find a better level of product quality. Obviously, a packet of Daz or Bernard Matthews turkey slices is the same everywhere, but for fresh food and own-brand products, my personal assessment is that Waitrose is the best quality you'll find, short of Harrods or Fortnum and Mason. But as a result, they aren't necessarily cheap. So the customer demographic is perhaps "Tesco finest" rather than Aldi.

Anyway, that's about it. I hope that my insight, such as it is, into their ethos and marketing helps.

[Guy]

As said, I worked there for 3 years, and having done business studies and economics for A level could prob dig out some infomation for you. What sort of area were you looking for regards to the SWOT analysis, the partnership (John Lewis + Waitrose) or just Waitrose as a business?

+ Although there is no loyalty card scheme as such, the marketing strategy is somewhat different, there is alot more targetted special offer drops of homes within a certain catchment area. The introduction of the Partnership card is also another interesting area in regards to loyalty scheme. Because when you shop there using the Partnership credit card you earn points which then translate into John Lewis vouchers. Also dependant on what you buy, perioditcally money off vouchers will come through with your statement for products that you have bought or similar items.

[IBM]

Thanks to everyone for all the input....one of the people who'd I'd been trying to get in touch with over a quick chat about the Waitrose world finally got back in touch and is going to meet up with me over the weekend.

Which should hopefully give me more than enough information. I'll certainly be referencing my online search, with specific reference 'to all at Hexus' for all assistance rendered. Anyone who wants to be credited for help given by name should drop me a PM.

Cheers guys, tonnes of help.