Waitrose: Pushing back on traditional discounting

Posted At: 23 June 2015 00:00 AM
Related Categories: Retailers

It seems that Waitrose is hitting back at discount rivals such as Aldi and Lidl by announcing a price cutting initiative for its loyal customers. The scheme allows customers to choose where their discount goes each time they shop. Waitrose is offering this initiative for a limited time over the summer months and will offer a selection of almost 1,000 products for its customers to choose from. Will they continue the scheme after the summer?

This initiative comes on the back of Waitrose being pushed out of the top 6 big supermarkets by rival Aldi with Aldi targeting its middle-class shoppers by offering more luxury items including alcohol and exotic foods.

In light of this, it seems that Waitrose is listening to its customers’ needs, by offering a unique proposition. By giving its customers the power to target discounting (within certain limits), Waitrose is adapting to the needs of the consumer, rather than the other way around which is often the case in retail. This will potentially start a trend which will see other retailers adapt their loyalty schemes to give customers greater choice.

 

Source: http://www.waitrose.com/home/mywaitrose/pick-your-own.html

It seems that most retailers are not this flexible; however as Waitrose wants to regain its loyal customer base it seems that enticing them back with favourable discounting could be a massive step forward. Where some retailers, such as Tesco, offer discounts on shoppers’ frequent purchases, this new approach by Waitrose means that customers could benefit from discounts on items they would not normally buy as well as others.

This is certainly a new way to approach discounting in the ever increasingly competitive grocery landscape, it will be interesting to see how the big four, indeed even the discounters react to this new move by Waitrose.
 

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