Waitrose Almost Crossing a Line

inspectorperez

Christmas special offer for Spanish Tapas £8 each or 2 for £12. That was the enticing strap line.

Tried 3 stores all of whom had identical Christmas Offer displays. Tapas platters in identical packaging costing £11 right next to where the 2 for £12 should have been and actually on the same shelf adjacent the promotional 2 for £12 label. None of the special deal items left of course.

Not to be outdone, visited the largest of the three stores this morning at opening time knowing that there had been a fresh delivery which was put on the shelves before opening time this morning. Well there was actually some of the offer stock there and I picked all two of them!

I'm sure there is a term for this sort of thing in retailing (teaser deals or something similar), but the proximity to the more expensive items in similar packaging in the Christmas Offer section certainly left me wondering whether the staff are picking all the best deals before they get on the shelves, or whether this is deliberate policy to maximize the top line for December sales.

Whatever it is, Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust!

tastyhog

You mean similar products are on the same shelves? How misleading 🙄

What do you think about different types of butter on the same shelves, some on offer and some not? 

sarah1972

inspectorperez said:

Christmas special offer for Spanish Tapas £8 each or 2 for £12. That was the enticing strap line.

Tried 3 stores all of whom had identical Christmas Offer displays. Tapas platters in identical packaging costing £11 right next to where the 2 for £12 should have been and actually on the same shelf adjacent the promotional 2 for £12 label. None of the special deal items left of course.

Not to be outdone, visited the largest of the three stores this morning at opening time knowing that there had been a fresh delivery which was put on the shelves before opening time this morning. Well there was actually some of the offer stock there and I picked all two of them!

I'm sure there is a term for this sort of thing in retailing (teaser deals or something similar), but the proximity to the more expensive items in similar packaging in the Christmas Offer section certainly left me wondering whether the staff are picking all the best deals before they get on the shelves, or whether this is deliberate policy to maximize the top line for December sales.

Whatever it is, Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust!

It’s common practice throughout the supermarkets having similar things on the same shelves, it’s been like that for as long as I can remember.

You say you know that the store had received a fresh delivery and you know it was put on the shelves before opening but do you know how many of the on offer products were delivered and how many were picked for home deliveries and click and collect?

inspectorperez

tastyhog said:

You mean similar products are on the same shelves? How misleading 🙄

What do you think about different types of butter on the same shelves, some on offer and some not? 

In a designated area for Christmas offers - so yes very misleading!

inspectorperez

sarah1972 said:

inspectorperez said:

Christmas special offer for Spanish Tapas £8 each or 2 for £12. That was the enticing strap line.

Tried 3 stores all of whom had identical Christmas Offer displays. Tapas platters in identical packaging costing £11 right next to where the 2 for £12 should have been and actually on the same shelf adjacent the promotional 2 for £12 label. None of the special deal items left of course.

Not to be outdone, visited the largest of the three stores this morning at opening time knowing that there had been a fresh delivery which was put on the shelves before opening time this morning. Well there was actually some of the offer stock there and I picked all two of them!

I'm sure there is a term for this sort of thing in retailing (teaser deals or something similar), but the proximity to the more expensive items in similar packaging in the Christmas Offer section certainly left me wondering whether the staff are picking all the best deals before they get on the shelves, or whether this is deliberate policy to maximize the top line for December sales.

Whatever it is, Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust!

It’s common practice throughout the supermarkets having similar things on the same shelves, it’s been like that for as long as I can remember.

You say you know that the store had received a fresh delivery and you know it was put on the shelves before opening but do you know how many of the on offer products were delivered and how many were picked for home deliveries and click and collect?

In a designated display for Christmas offers - you have missed the point!

sarah1972

inspectorperez said:

sarah1972 said:

inspectorperez said:

Christmas special offer for Spanish Tapas £8 each or 2 for £12. That was the enticing strap line.

Tried 3 stores all of whom had identical Christmas Offer displays. Tapas platters in identical packaging costing £11 right next to where the 2 for £12 should have been and actually on the same shelf adjacent the promotional 2 for £12 label. None of the special deal items left of course.

Not to be outdone, visited the largest of the three stores this morning at opening time knowing that there had been a fresh delivery which was put on the shelves before opening time this morning. Well there was actually some of the offer stock there and I picked all two of them!

I'm sure there is a term for this sort of thing in retailing (teaser deals or something similar), but the proximity to the more expensive items in similar packaging in the Christmas Offer section certainly left me wondering whether the staff are picking all the best deals before they get on the shelves, or whether this is deliberate policy to maximize the top line for December sales.

Whatever it is, Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust!

It’s common practice throughout the supermarkets having similar things on the same shelves, it’s been like that for as long as I can remember.

You say you know that the store had received a fresh delivery and you know it was put on the shelves before opening but do you know how many of the on offer products were delivered and how many were picked for home deliveries and click and collect?

In a designated display for Christmas offers - you have missed the point!

So it’s different Christmas offers/products all on the same shelf.

As mentioned previously, do you know how many went for click & collect and deliveries? Perfectly reasonable answer as to why there may be less on the shelves than you ‘know’ were delivered. 

You say Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust, personally I think they are all the same. They all use tactics to get us to spend. If they have no 2 for £x amount, they may put similar products that aren’t on offer in the same Vicinity to tempt us to buy them at regular price but still seasonal. 

YoungBlueEyes

If they put out similar products that aren't on the offer, they should remove the 'special offer' label so as not to be deliberately misleading.

jon81uk

inspectorperez said:

sarah1972 said:

inspectorperez said:

Christmas special offer for Spanish Tapas £8 each or 2 for £12. That was the enticing strap line.

Tried 3 stores all of whom had identical Christmas Offer displays. Tapas platters in identical packaging costing £11 right next to where the 2 for £12 should have been and actually on the same shelf adjacent the promotional 2 for £12 label. None of the special deal items left of course.

Not to be outdone, visited the largest of the three stores this morning at opening time knowing that there had been a fresh delivery which was put on the shelves before opening time this morning. Well there was actually some of the offer stock there and I picked all two of them!

I'm sure there is a term for this sort of thing in retailing (teaser deals or something similar), but the proximity to the more expensive items in similar packaging in the Christmas Offer section certainly left me wondering whether the staff are picking all the best deals before they get on the shelves, or whether this is deliberate policy to maximize the top line for December sales.

Whatever it is, Waitrose has now certainly gone into by book of retail brands I no longer trust!

It’s common practice throughout the supermarkets having similar things on the same shelves, it’s been like that for as long as I can remember.

You say you know that the store had received a fresh delivery and you know it was put on the shelves before opening but do you know how many of the on offer products were delivered and how many were picked for home deliveries and click and collect?

In a designated display for Christmas offers - you have missed the point!

Are you certain the area was only for offers and not just Christmas products in general?

Having two items with Christmas on the product name next to each other makes a lot of sense.
Waitrose Christmas Tapas Platter | Waitrose & Partners
Waitrose Christmas Continental Meat & Antipasti Garland | Waitrose & Partners

The one on the 2 for £12 is sold out online so I expect a lot of people think like you do that it is good value but its only 17% meat. The garland that is £12 is 58% meat which I think justifies the high price rather than being mainly olives.

As long as they are both clearly labelled I don't see the issue.