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Waitrose sales soar in Marks & Spencer 'posh food' fight
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor5 Feb 2010
Waitrose delivered another crushing blow to Marks & Spencer in the battle of the “posh food stores” today by revealing that its sales soared by 15 per cent in the second half of last year.
The figures make Waitrose easily Britain's fastest growing supermarket chain and compare favourably with the 1.3 per cent sales advance disclosed recently by M&S.
They come as Ocado — the online grocer that delivers Waitrose products — set a new record for the number of deliveries in a single day, of 17,500.
Waitrose will be one of the biggest headaches facing M&S chief executive Marc Bolland, who arrives from Morrisons in May on a £15 million first year package that has irritated some City investors. His opposite number at Waitrose, the “chubby grocer” Mark Price, is thought to earn about £600,000 plus a modest partner profit share on top.
City analysts believe M&S was slow to spot the squeeze on shoppers in the run-up to the recession. M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose has admitted the chain was “bested” by Waitrose over Christmas. Waitrose is now selling more food than M&S for the first time.
Mr Price said its success was due to its lower priced “Essentials” range launched in March and free delivery on its WaitroseDeliver online service, which surged by 100 per cent on the previous year. He said the performance is “remarkable” and the 222-store chain is serving half a million more customers a week than a year ago.
Mr Price, who was tipped to succeed Mr Bolland at Morrisons, said he never had any intention of leaving Waitrose. “There is far too much going on,” he said. This includes the launch of Waitrose ranges in Boots from April, more stores at Welcome Break services and an exlusive deal with Prince Charles's Duchy Original brand.
John Lewis, which owns Waitrose, also reported sales up 15.6 per cent in the week to the 30 January.
Reader views (9)
Waitrose isnt bargin basement like Morrisons" hell holes and they do sell a wide range of expensive luxury foods, but some of their own brand basic staples are surprisingly inexpensive. In my local Waitrose Great Malvern), bags of pasta and also pasta sauses were recently cheaper then in the next door Summerfield(now owned by Co-op). Also the staff are mostly nicer.
- Estan, Malvern Worcestershire, 05/02/2010 20:01
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I absolutely love Waitrose. Pleasure to shop in. Usually delightful knowledgeable staff. And yes I also do a large shop in Morrisons - again with excellent staff.
M&S started to go down the pan when they dropped staff final salary pensions, thus removing the incentive for staff to be loyal and stay with them. And some years ago many experienced staff started to leave or be poached by competitors. The buying flair both in foods and non-foods has slowly faded. Nowadays service is no different from any other high street store, but for me Waitrose's offer beats their's ten fold.
M&S has aisle after aisle of often high fat and or/salt content prepared foods. We prepare 99% of our food ourselves and have no need for all this prepared food.
Today I looked for a prepared veggie offer and found the same boring cauliflower cheese etc. And NO QUORN - a staple for veggies. In any case when I have bought M&S prepared foods they are flavourless. Instead of salt why not use more herbs and spices?
Waitrose has a far more interesting and wider offer. For instance I bought the most wonderful 'Blush'(Sicilian blood oranges) the other day. M&S only has boring navels which are not even as good as they used to be. For food lovers Waitrose can be an 'exciting' experience.
- Bb, London, 05/02/2010 17:58
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The shopping habits of my friends and neighbours suggest that aspirant new money shops at Waitrose but canny old money shops at Asda.
- John, London UK, 05/02/2010 17:40
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Marks are slow to intoruce home shopping in their food dept. Shame on you. I would buy alot more food if you offered this service. WHY HAVEN'T YOU???
- Lisa, london uk, 05/02/2010 16:49
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M&S closed several stores and left us with no option but to go to Waitrose. However, I agree that far too many items on Waitrose shelves are very expensive compared to Tescos. Waitrose is handy for a quick shop but not for the weekly one.
- George, Cambridge, 05/02/2010 14:26
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Even in a recession some people must have more money than sense. Like for like, Waitrose prices are generally about ten per cent above those of other supermarkets. A packet of Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells, for example, costs £1.30 in Waitrose but only £1.14 in Asda.
- James, London England, 05/02/2010 13:39
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Given the choice between the pleasant chore of shopping in Waitrose to the scrum of shopping in some hole like Tesco, I'd gladly pay the extra for the decent customer service and avoidance of the unwashed masses.
- Bob, Cheam, 05/02/2010 13:06
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I have just shopped at Waitrose this morning, and found that their prices have increased significantly since the New Year.
Customers should shop around more as that is the only way to keep Supermarkets price competitive.
- John Jones, Westminster, 05/02/2010 12:15
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I do like Waitrose but it could do with introducing a bit more variety into its range of puddings - it is very reliant on chocolate, which can be too much of a good thing.
- Amelie Smith, Newbury, Berkshire, 05/02/2010 11:51
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