Waitrose introducing charges for home deliveries

coffeehound

No, it’s a tesco and asda default thing

Doc_N

coffeehound said:

No, it’s a tesco and asda default thing

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.

MrsStepford

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.

Enjoy your thai-produced chicken!  

Never tried it. Always buy free range organic British chicken at Tesco. Is it a Waitrose thing?

Buy organic from Abel & Cole usually. 

GaleSF63

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.  

pumpkin89

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.

Waitrose free range is not the same as Tesco free range.  There is a minimum legal standard to label chicken as "free range" but some brands are very close to that minimum and others significantly exceed it.

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.

Doc_N

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.

Waitrose free range is not the same as Tesco free range.  There is a minimum legal standard to label chicken as "free range" but some brands are very close to that minimum and others significantly exceed it.

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.

That is, of course, the Waitrose spiel. How true it is is arguable, and there’s no doubt whatever, because the accounts show it, that they operate on much higher profit margins.

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/

Bacman

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.

Undervalued

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.

Both are a convenience purchase. Obviously you can save money by making your own sandwiches just as you can by walking to the shop to buy your groceries.

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!

coffeehound

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.

Waitrose free range is not the same as Tesco free range.  There is a minimum legal standard to label chicken as "free range" but some brands are very close to that minimum and others significantly exceed it.

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.

That is, of course, the Waitrose spiel. How true it is is arguable, and there’s no doubt whatever, because the accounts show it, that they operate on much higher profit margins.

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

I have more trust in Waitrose whereas see T as an altogether more slippery, tricky entity.  The fact that they (and Asda if i recall) were embroiled in the horsemeat scandal illustrates that well.  (And the fact that they ship in vast amounts of chicken fron SE Asia.)

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. 

GaleSF63

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.

I didn't say it justified it; just that it's a bit silly if I pay for a sandwich instead of making it myself more cheaply and then moan about a charge which won't anywhere near cover what it's for, (I don't) because I could do something about it if I chose. (Except that my sandwiches never seem as nice!) Maybe I've been lucky but have had no cause to complain about the number of substitutions or unavailable items but if I was able to go into a store I would be a bit more choosy on some of the fresh stuff, date-wise. 

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.