MSE News: Waitrose to scrap "confusing" offer

A._Badger · 6 February 2018 at 10:57PM

DCFC79 wrote: »

I forgot what mine was too, I thought if I downloaded the app it might help to keep a track of my choices, it didnt happen.

I ended up making a note on my smartphone shopping list,

robin58 · 6 February 2018 at 11:31PM

dlusman wrote: »

If you read the link at hotUKdeals - they are changing to what sounds like what Sainsburys do. Personalised vouchers issued at the till or through the post

Trouble is these 'personalised vouchers' are to me pretty useless to me.

I have only ever got 1 voucher for a product I did buy, the rest were for £6 off a £30 spend which will never happen with me.

All the new till spit vouchers will be for products that I will no doubt never buy because they will be very expensive or products I don't like.

I think they are scrapping it because people were getting good offers when putting their special offers with the 20% off. They were losing too much money.

mgns · 7 February 2018 at 7:03AM

This is really disappointing news. The regular extra 20% off certain staples (Marmite, tea, pasta, fruit) was a real incentive and got me in the door and spending on other items. The real problem is that without the extra discount, Waitrose isn't competitive on price, so there is little reason now to go out of my way to visit and spend - I'm not bothered about free coffee etc.

I'd agree with others that the PYO offers were not particularly well laid out on the website but it was worth the effort. In the current climate, it does seem a thinly veiled decision to try and claw back some profits.

sarah1972 · 7 February 2018 at 7:31AM

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Waitrose is going right down in my estimation.

They have just introduced a minimum spend of £10 to park in the car park for a maximum of 2 hours after which it is an automatic fine of £70.

You cannot even pay to park anymore if you want to just pop in for a couple of things.

I hope this hits them where it hurts. The car park was half empty the other day.

I agree that they have started doing this, in my local Waitrose people park there and go into town for hours so genuine customers have nowhere to park. 2 hours is more than enough to do a shop, there is no need to spend more than 2 hours in one grocery shop.

I do, however agree with you about the £10 spend, they should lower that as some people just want milk or lunch or a couple of bits.

Doc_N · 7 February 2018 at 8:31AM

A shame, but probably an inevitable move to try to preserve profits. I guess the free paper and coffee will be under consideration too.

Waitrose has lost a lot of customers to Aldi and Lidl, which get more and more like Waitrose every day (Aldi now take Amex!). It now looks even more expensive than it did before, and regularly seeing Waitrose prices twice as high as those in Aldi doesn't encourage me to return too often.

Sadly, I think it's done for in its present form. It's going to continue, but not remotely as successfully. Times change, and the Waitrose business model looks damaged.

NBLondon · 7 February 2018 at 10:47AM

Hollyharvey wrote: »

I agree that you had to keep an eye on what you had on 'my picks' and what Waitrose have on offer to make the really good savings.

We rarely do a "big shop" at Waitrose (maybe once a quarter as a treat) but top-ups or odds and ends at the one near work. So I actually struggled to think of 10 things that I would buy regularly and only ever bothered to review the list once when they e-mailed me. So it's not going to make a lot of difference to me - I made bigger savings by looking in the "reduced" baskets. Even those have got more expensive in the last few months i.e. the percentage reduction has gone down.

I agree with those who think it's because they are losing money to savvy shoppers doubling up and not getting the increased footfall and spend they hoped for. And I agree with Doc N that the free tea/coffee might be the next to go - or have a minimum spend attached. They must be losing money on that - especially with the number of people I've seen doubling up on it (one coffee in the official cup and one in the travel mug / one teabag in the cup and one in the handbag).

stmartinsdiver · 7 February 2018 at 12:53PM

I just picked 10 items that we often buy and left it set at that - it would be too much faffing around to change choices regularly plus the fact that the lists of choices is far from comprehensive so you'd not necessarily be able to find what you'd like to put on your list anyway. Generally speaking Waitrose is more expensive on branded products and you can usually make good savings simply by buying at the other supermarket chains. A quick raid on a Saturday morning for a few competitively priced items gets you a free newspaper with the weeks TV guide and a free coffee of course, and you may well spot a special offer worth taking advantage of whilst there.

nicksmith1234 · 7 February 2018 at 3:06PM

Surely, Waitrose are insulting their customers' intelligence by suggesting that they find the scheme "confusing"!

POPPYOSCAR · 7 February 2018 at 3:19PM

sarah1972 wrote: »

I agree that they have started doing this, in my local Waitrose people park there and go into town for hours so genuine customers have nowhere to park. 2 hours is more than enough to do a shop, there is no need to spend more than 2 hours in one grocery shop.

I do, however agree with you about the £10 spend, they should lower that as some people just want milk or lunch or a couple of bits.

The thing is though that when Waitrose came to our town the car park was already there and served the high street.

It was an issue raised by many residents who were assured that everyone would still be able to park there.

Until recently you could park there and pay or free to Waitrose customers if you spent £5.

Now unless you shop in Waitrose and spend £10 you cannot park there at all. This will mean it will be very difficult to park in the high street to shop elsewhere.

This will mean that some like myself will not shop locally as much and will go where it is easy to park.

Also many people used to park there in the evening to go the restaurants but the cameras will operate 24/7.

This has got to have an effect on the whole high street.

Doc_N · 7 February 2018 at 8:07PM

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

The thing is though that when Waitrose came to our town the car park was already there and served the high street.

It was an issue raised by many residents who were assured that everyone would still be able to park there.

Until recently you could park there and pay or free to Waitrose customers if you spent £5.

Now unless you shop in Waitrose and spend £10 you cannot park there at all. This will mean it will be very difficult to park in the high street to shop elsewhere.

This will mean that some like myself will not shop locally as much and will go where it is easy to park.

Also many people used to park there in the evening to go the restaurants but the cameras will operate 24/7.

This has got to have an effect on the whole high street.

That's not happening here, but there isn't a problem with it because it's not in the centre. However, Waitrose being Waitrose, I'd hazard a guess that the decision they've made could be reopened with a little persuasion from the right people. They're usually very sensitive to charges that they're damaging local High Streets and other retailers.

MSE News: Waitrose to scrap "confusing" offer

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