Waitrose intros online platform
The investment, costing more than £10 million will enable Waitrose to compete more effectively with other players in the market, including Ocado.
Mark Price, Waitrose's managing-director, says: "This investment in our online platform will dramatically enhance the customer experience so that shoppers receive the unrivalled standards of service and the personal touch they associate with our branches. With more investment planned, this new platform accelerates our progress as a truly multi-channel retailer."
The investment, according to Shopsafe.co.uk, is to enhance its portal for safe shopping online the retailer is making delivery even more convenient by upping the number of slots, which are available during peak periods over the weekend. Anyone spending over £50 will also be entitled to free delivery, as is presently the case.
It says the Web site changes have already been made known to long time customers via e-mail and this has had the slightly inconvenient impact of making it impossible for users to alter their delivery details until the middle of next month.
Although Waitrose is considered to be more expensive and quality-focused than its immediate rivals, it is clearly not shy of innovating in the e-commerce sector.
Retail Gazette says this announcement will grab the attention of e-tail grocer Ocado which currently delivers Waitrose produce, along with some of its own-brand items, in a number of areas of the UK.
Industry analyst Jonathan Banks says as more grocery retailing switches to online, it has become a significant channel in its own right, and any self-respecting retailer will ignore it at its peril.
“It also gives retailers an easier method of increasing their footprint, reaching otherwise hard to get to areas for their bricks and mortar offerings due to lack of sites, or the usual difficulties obtaining planning permission.”
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