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Waitrose introducing charges for home deliveries
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No, it’s a tesco and asda default thing0
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coffeehound said:No, it’s a tesco and asda default thing1
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Doc_N said:coffeehound said:Doc_N said:
but if, like many people, you already have a delivery pass with Tesco, Asda etc, you’re going to be very unlikely to buy from Waitrose. At the moment we alternate between Tesco and Waitrose, but as the Tesco deliveries will remain cost free with the pass, we’ll shop far less often at Waitrose - even though Click and Collect remains free if you spend £40.
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I expect Waitrose have decided £3 probably won't put many people off. I think I agree.
Of course, if it doesn't, they may be tempted to introduce further rises.
I've often enough had free dated on the day items from Waitrose that will cover £3 anyway.
And for example, I, like many people buy sandwiches from Waitrose and Tesco, which is an expensive way of having a sandwich, so it's a bit silly to then get upset about a delivery charge of about the same.0 -
Doc_N said:Not at all. Certainly not at Tesco. Just a matter of choice. And free range Waitrose is almost 50% more per kilo than free range Tesco. Both British. Waitrose work to much higher margins across the board.
I think you would be surprised how much more Waitrose pay farmers and suppliers in order to get better quality products. A high price doesn't always indicate a high margin.2 -
pumpkin89 said:Doc_N said:Not at all. Certainly not at Tesco. Just a matter of choice. And free range Waitrose is almost 50% more per kilo than free range Tesco. Both British. Waitrose work to much higher margins across the board.
I think you would be surprised how much more Waitrose pay farmers and suppliers in order to get better quality products. A high price doesn't always indicate a high margin.
We had a largish Waitrose delivery the other day, and what struck me was the high percentage of out of stock items, compared with Tesco - particularly on the special offer items which you’d expect them to have good stocks of. Not impressed either with a substitute for a meat item which weighed 25% less than we ordered.Tesco has been consistently more efficient in delivering what we ordered than Waitrose, over the last 18 months, and it’s interesting to see that this month’s Which? Report shows Waitrose as the worst of all the supermarkets for delivering fresh food.
If I pay high prices to Waitrose, I expect something in return for those high prices, but I’m afraid they’re just not providing that. Far too many out of stock items, compared with Tesco, and shorter dates on the food too.
Why would I want to pay yet a further charge on top of that for delivery?
This is relevant too, in that it refers also to Waitrose staff. John Lewis is not the company it claims to be:
John Lewis faces criticism over "poverty wages" - Retail Gazette
https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2021/09/john-lewis-faces-criticism-over-poverty-wages/0 -
Saying £3 for delivery is fine because you waste that money on a sandwich (!) isn't really a good way to justify their charge as being ok. You can't guarantee you get the items you order anyway whereas if you go in-store you can pick suitable alternatives. Waitrose is decent value for some items but rather expensive on others on comparable product lines, there will be more than enough margin to keep delivery free and not lose those customers who will simply shop there less due to the charge, like us.
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Bacman said:Saying £3 for delivery is fine because you waste that money on a sandwich (!) isn't really a good way to justify their charge as being ok. You can't guarantee you get the items you order anyway whereas if you go in-store you can pick suitable alternatives. Waitrose is decent value for some items but rather expensive on others on comparable product lines, there will be more than enough margin to keep delivery free and not lose those customers who will simply shop there less due to the charge, like us.
Before the Covid situation it was said (and I well believe) that it cost the supermarkets around £12 to service each home delivery. So any delivery charge paid by the customer is only a contribution. The huge increase in demand for deliveries may (or may not?) have given them some economies of scale but even so in simple terms they lose money. However, unless they all get together and either abolish home delivery or charge an economic price they have to continue to offer it to keep their market share.
In a way this is a variation on the endless moans about parcel delivery services. Nobody wants to pay an economic price for the level of service and reliability that they demand. To be honest overall they are remarkably good but that is no consolation when your parcel is one of the small percentage that gets lost, damaged or delayed!5 -
Doc_N said:pumpkin89 said:Doc_N said:Not at all. Certainly not at Tesco. Just a matter of choice. And free range Waitrose is almost 50% more per kilo than free range Tesco. Both British. Waitrose work to much higher margins across the board.
I think you would be surprised how much more Waitrose pay farmers and suppliers in order to get better quality products. A high price doesn't always indicate a high margin.
We had a largish Waitrose delivery the other day, and what struck me was the high percentage of out of stock items, compared with Tesco - particularly on the special offer items which you’d expect them to have good stocks of. Not impressed either with a substitute for a meat item which weighed 25% less than we ordered.Tesco has been consistently more efficient in delivering what we ordered than Waitrose, over the last 18 months, and it’s interesting to see that this month’s Which? Report shows Waitrose as the worst of all the supermarkets for delivering fresh food.
If I pay high prices to Waitrose, I expect something in return for those high prices, but I’m afraid they’re just not providing that. Far too many out of stock items, compared with Tesco, and shorter dates on the food too.
Why would I want to pay yet a further charge on top of that for delivery?
This is relevant too, in that it refers also to Waitrose staff. John Lewis is not the company it claims to be:
John Lewis faces criticism over "poverty wages" - Retail Gazette
Do tesco make up home deliveries at distribution centres or in stores? I wonder if the former is better and trying to do it in store is compromised by the replenishment state at the time of picking — possibly done before the overnight replenishment has been c/o. Perhaps Ocado were better placed for the home delivery than the stores.As for the cost, £3 seems very cheap for the service. It must be at least a staff-hour per order. Is the collection service still free? Maybe a good compromise for those who live close to the store.0 -
Bacman said:Saying £3 for delivery is fine because you waste that money on a sandwich (!) isn't really a good way to justify their charge as being ok. You can't guarantee you get the items you order anyway whereas if you go in-store you can pick suitable alternatives. Waitrose is decent value for some items but rather expensive on others on comparable product lines, there will be more than enough margin to keep delivery free and not lose those customers who will simply shop there less due to the charge, like us.
Coffeehound said "Do tesco make up home deliveries at distribution centres or in stores? I wonder if the former is better and trying to do it in store is compromised by the replenishment state at the time of picking — possibly done before the overnight replenishment has been c/o. Perhaps Ocado were better placed for the home delivery than the stores."
I think you may be right about the timing. I've been getting deliveries, either Waitrose or Tesco, for about 7 years and I did start to notice that it was best to avoid some days of the week as I was less likely to get what I ordered. I've found Wednesday, Thursday, Friday to be best. Whether Tesco do deliveries from distribution centres I don't know - mine comes from a shop, I know that.1
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