Tour to the best retail networks of Great Britain [20/04 – 26/04/2015]

Some changes constantly take place in retail. The pursuit of clients stimulates retailers to come up with new ways to keep and attract even more people, to optimize work with suppliers, to establish all internal processes. The UK has a high concentration of large retail chains with a rich history, extensive experience and a loud success stories so we went to learn from their experience!

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Organizer: - FastForward

Our week started from the trip to the supermarket of the Waitrose network. This store opened practically in the field, but, as we were told by the store manager, they regard it as an investment. Since there already exists a large building and after a couple of years a lot of houses, a bridge and a shopping center will be built. And the inhabitants of this region will be regular customers of the store. We have studied the question of the quantity of fresh products in the store and peculiarities of their storage and delivery, display of goods on the shelves and distinctive features of how to attract customers to the supermarket. There is a small cafe, which is equipped with iPads, where the customers can explore the choice of goods in the shop and have a free cup of coffee. Separately, at the entrance to the supermarket, there is a juice bar, where you can buy a glass of freshly squeezed juice and go shopping.

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We also liked the area for wine tasting. There is an action carried out every Friday in the supermarket: if one buys a cheese plate, he can go to the tasting area and try different wines. In addition, there is an installed iPad application that shows the best combinations of the selected wine with cheese and where this wine is produced. Also, the supermarket has a dry cleaning service, which handles orders within 2 days.

We examined a number of issues associated with a rise of staff, the hierarchy of managing the store, the display of goods and the issues related to the prompt payment with credit cards and quick check scanner.

Our next stop was the supermarket of the ASDA chain. The supermarket was opened a year ago and during that time its sales have grown by 20%. It is designed for quick purchases, such as for lunch. First of all, the store attracts buyers with low prices. Another interesting feature of the store is that 25% of the assortment is fresh food which is out of 10 000 items. We visited the warehouse and observed the way they receive the goods and their number. The store has online ordering service with independent taking out. Store employees gather the necessary goods for the buyer not to waste his time on search, and the customer only takes out his order at a convenient time. There is a bonus system for employees, there are carried out various kinds of competitions in which winners are awarded with cards with points, which they can exchange for store goods.

 

Our group continued to recognize the features of the English retail in Sainsbury's local. It is a small shop around the corner. It opened recently (about 7 months ago) in the Olympic village and its area is 5500 sq. m. We liked the friendly staff of this store, they are very customer-oriented and happy, if the customer is pleased - you can feel it as soon as you come to the supermarket. All are very friendly, always smiling and willing to help and suggest something. They have a board of honor, where they mark the best. In this way the store manager achieved 0% level of shoplifting in such a short period of work. We discussed the supply of products and attracting new customers (especially if there is a shop of the competitors around the corner -Waitrose). They are aimed at good quality at affordable prices. We found out the reasons why the buyer chooses them. We looked at where the staff re-stand take lunch, and explored the process of recruitment.

 

We visited a very interesting format of the store - Tesco express. This store is located in the business district of London and is the first project of such type in the network. It is opened exclusively for office workers to buy lunch. The range of goods is represented by sandwiches, salads, mix of fruits and nuts. Its special feature is the presence of the day menu when you can buy a sandwich, a snack and a drink according to your choice at a special price. It is a very lively shop in which there is only self-checkout and the customer is on average at the store for no more than 10 minutes.

Next stop is Waitrose little. The meeting was held by the store manager, who told us about the hierarchy of the store, the number of product names, average check, possibility, the range of goods and other issues that helped us understand the principle of this store. There is a coffee machine at the entrance to the shop and all holders of loyalty cards can get a coffee for free and drink it in a special area of the cafe. There is also a basket for charity at the entrance to the store as the supermarket cooperates with 3 different organizations. Customers vote every week, and the network sends 500 pounds for charity which influences the image of the network positively.

The first meeting of the third day was held at the distribution center ASDA. It was held by an operating officer, who told the principles of placement of goods, loading and unloading, all interesting numbers: the number of stores they serve, the number of staff, errors, the process of collecting orders and others.

After a long visit, the group went on a tour to Leeds Castle and the historic town of Canterbury.

 

Leeds Castle is located on the 2-lake islands along the River Len about 4 miles from Maidstone in Kent. This is a medieval fortress, it is classified as one of the most beautiful castles in the world, and its name comes from the Saxon nobleman Ledian, who built the first wooden fortress on this place in 857.

The castle consists of four forts, each of which was equipped for self-defense. At the nearest entrance to the coast there is the Barbican Gate tower. A stone bridge, along which you walk to the castle, was originally a wooden drawbridge. The gate tower looks like it would have looked in the 13th century, when it served as a room for servants and horses, as well as it was a significant defensive fortification. The central island was surrounded by a stone wall, which reached a height of fifteen feet. Here are also the tower of the commandant and a modern palace. To the south of this island there are two defensive towers: Maiden's Tower and a water tower.

Canterbury is an ancient city in the south-east of England, in the county of Kent, 85 kilometers south-east of London, known as the location of the Department of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of the Anglican Church.

It’s an amazing country with which you fall in love at first sight. And it also brings valuable knowledge to our innovators!

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The next meeting was held with the director of network development SPAR. The shop works on franchising. A nice feature of the store is the presence of the floral department at the entrance. The company hired its florist who makes very beautiful flower arrangements. Due to this you feel nice flower smell at the entrance, and it gives some charm to the store. There is also a small and cozy café and an excellent restaurant on the second floor. We discussed the issues of store management, the display of products and their supply, working with local and main supplier.

The second meeting was held in Budgens. They also work on franchising. We met with the store manager and the director of the franchise. After a long study of the market and customer needs the shop occupied its niche, despite such strong competitors like Sainsbury's and others. A year ago, the store made a rebranding; they considered the cost of it, the result it brought and what was changed. Also, we were shown the planogram of the range of goods and financial indexes.

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We visited the supermarket Morrisonson Friday. The meeting was held by the store manager. We examined back-office, the benefits of working in a team, their differences from the competitors, the structure of the store, the presence of "shop in shop", working with fresh produce. The meeting was very informative and the group asked a lot of questions: about the supply of products and monitoring the empty spaces on the shelves, a bonus system for the staff and the formation of discounts.

Then the group went to the supermarket Sainsbury's. We discussed with the store manager the way out of the last year crisis, namely the reasons that led to the problems and how they are being fought with at the moment. We discussed the questions about how they work with fresh products, how they organize and manage with the stock, shared basic tools of how to promote and they showed their distinction between their service and one of competitors.

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