Co-op - Deteriorating Retail Performance

datostar

Today's Telegraph Business Section, reporting on Lord Myners' resignation from the Co-op Board, refers to questions being asked about the deteriorating performance of the Retail group.

My local small Co-op supermarket regularly has offers displayed on posters or on shelf labels, which are not always applied at the tills where staff attempt to charge full price for scanned goods allegedly on offer. They say the tills are programmed centrally and that this is not their fault. One has to be very careful when buying multiple items to make sure that that one is not being overcharged. I have never known it go the other way with an undercharge!
Another little inefficiency is when emails are sent to members telling them that the next time their member card is scanned at the till in a particular branch they will receive a discount voucher. Twice in the last month I have had these emails with no voucher forthcoming. Again the staff disclaim any knowledge and can only say that the centrally operated tills must have not been correctly programmed. Something of a pattern, I fear.
When I lived in the North East, the Co-op, which was very powerful in that region in those days, was colloquially known as the 'Stealworks'.

vuvuzela

Regularly in my local Co-op the prices on the shelf edges bear little resemblance to the prices charged at the till.
Also, and I am sure this is completely accidental, when they do reductions they regularly don't cover the old barcode, leaving it easily scannable at the full price.

donnac2558

The Co.op is a dear hole. You regularly get charged over the price label displayed on the shelf. Oh and if Pepsi is on offer they won't have the Max version included for some unknown reason.

I refuse to buy in it now and only go with a friend is going in.

dacouch

My local shop (Costcutter) sold out to Co Op, it went from a very well run shop with good deals, well stocked shelves, efficient staff and no queues to the complete opposite.

I live in central London and it's no exaggeration to say virtually all their prices are more expensive than the tourist shops in the touristy areas 1km away.

I stopped going in their due to the prices (89p for a can of coke), the tills charging the wrong prices and the incredibly long queues due to the staff being badly trained.

I was not impressed when they decided to uprate their shop sign and the contractors turned up at 5.30am and proceeded to start work making a very loud noise for an hour.

Badly run business that's hardly surprising they're struggling

Dizzy_Ditzy

My local co-op is dreadful. It's dirty, never well stocked and the staff are a law into themselves.

They chat to people being served across you at the other till, constantly have at least 5 people queuing to be served, the variety of fresh, healthy food is non-existent whereas the amount of processed crap available is extraordinary!

Clearly that shop works on a supply and demand basis, but really?

I'm surprised they are still in business, especially with the ridiculous prices