I don’t understand Waitrose.

[JensonsAcolyte]

I just went to the big Waitrose because they stock gochujang paste. I thought I may as well get a few bits, chicken, cereal, crisps, pasta etc. All the sort of stuff that isn’t dinners but filler food.

£90!

For four bags of shopping.

And it didn’t feel special or posh or magical or anything.

Why do people shop there? Is it actually a snobbery thing? We have a Sainsburys, Tesco and Lidl within a mile or so radius as well.

The only thing it had going for it for me was the aforementioned chilli paste that I couldn’t get in Tesco. But other than the Ingredients range, the other ranges they offer aren’t very wide.

Will anyone admit that they shop there out of snobbery/classism?

I shop there because I like the quality and selection of stuff - mainly meat and fish. They seem to be the only place I can get free-range pork these days. Like their free-range chicken too, and the 5%fat mince beef. I cook mostly from scratch. The range of ingredients for world food is better than most - range of noodles and miso.
I make very good use of special offers.
I don't usually but branded stuff which is sometimes cheaper elsewhere.
Their Indian food is our favourite.
It's a nice shop.
I've tried all the others over the years and do go to Tesco and Sainsbury's when I'm near and need something. Waitrose is where I go mainly, for reasons stated.
Don't know why you would describe anyone's brand loyalty or preferment as snobbery, though.

The price differences between the supermarkets make sense to me as you are, to some extent, paying for the environment. Asda are crap at customer service, the cameras on you at the self service tills are insulting, nobody ever around to help with self service so the staff are naturally flustered and death stares if you dare to go later in the evening when they are putting stock on shelves. It is just unenjoyable depressing experience. Even the location of ours is depressing where as the Waitrose is within the locality.

Saying that, I think you can shop there and the price us reasonable unless you take a detour down the tolietary aisles and buy creams that you can't buy in other supermarkets like I do! Equally, I use click and collect John Lewis sometimes so it is useful.

The price differences between the supermarkets make sense to me as you are, to some extent, paying for the environment

Good point. I hear people talking about Waitrose sometimes and the implication is their customers are snobbish mugs being taken for a ride by a supermarket overcharging to give their shops an air of exclusivity. The reality might be that some products are more expensive, but probably so are their overheads - more expensive sites, better treatment of suppliers, shorter queues so more staff. I don't know if they pay better, but I believe their staff are 'partners', so perhaps feel better treated. They also tend to score better on ethics than other big chains.

I won't claim this is the reason I shop there - it's more to do with it being very local and stocking everything I need. And I appreciate that for many people cost has to be their main consideration, but if people can afford to choose and take account of things like ethics, treatment of suppliers, etc then good for them. It certainly doesn't make them snobbish.

My parents shop at Waitrose because it's "so nice in there' and becausd DF bumps into all his friends from the golf club in there. DM says she's 'tried Aldi and it's horrible'. She had to throw the coffee away that she bought there, as it was disgusting apparently. And yet when she visits us, she's forever saying "Ooh - lovely coffee/biscuits/cheese/crackers etc" and is astonsished when I say they are from Aldi (rather than Booths,which she approves of but doesn't have in her area).

I shop all over the place, and have to be very careful with money.

I started shopping at Waitrose just for the particular brand of soya milk I love, that's difficult to find anywhere else. (I drink a lot of tea.) I rarely bought anything else there.

Then my job (and income) contracted even further, and at the same time, my DS was old enough to leave in the flat by himself. I started going to Waitrose in the early evenings to do the yellow sticker shop - posh shops discount far bigger than cheaper shops. Waitrose also scatter their yellow stickers around the shop, so there isn't a frantic and depressing scrum for the cheap stuff.

Now I often go to Waitrose because although other supermarkets are nearer to walk to, I can do a door-to-door on the bus from my flat to the nearest Waitrose, which means I don't have to carry shopping very far. I've been quite ill, and am currently not very strong, so this is a real benefit.

As for full-price stuff - if you keep a careful eye on things, and buy when things are on offer, you needn't pay extra.

So, availability of products, convenient travel, and price - it ticks all those boxes for me.

Oh, and the service there is fantastic. I have never been sneered at for being a yellow-ticket customer. Everyone is fantastically helpful and nice.

I have almost all the big supermarkets within the same sort of distance, and up until about 6 months ago I usually used Morrisons, but occasionally Sainsbury's or Tesco's.
But since the last lockdown I've been going to Waitrose. It is noticeably more expensive but they way they have handled the epidemic has made me feel much more comfortable than the others. The trolleys are wiped down before use, one way system, other shoppers much more aware of their behaviour. Last time I went to Morrison's there were quite a number of maskless people, poor distancing etc.
Once things have settled a bit more I will probably go back though.

One more word of praise for Waitrose, if I have to return something eg out of date same day, dodgy veg or meat, they exchange and refund without making a performance out of it, complete with apology. Unlike many others who seem to take it as a personal affront if I return a damaged item.

@longwayoff

One more word of praise for Waitrose, if I have to return something eg out of date same day, dodgy veg or meat, they exchange and refund without making a performance out of it, complete with apology. Unlike many others who seem to take it as a personal affront if I return a damaged item.

I've returned stuff to Asda and Tesco quite a few times and they have been fine with it. Although I don't think apologised.

Sainsburys sell gochujang paste, even the small local ones.

Find Waitrose quality much better than Lidl/Aldi. They need to sort their online offering though. I use Ocado (with M+S) as Waitrose is woeful sadly...

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

Sainsburys sell gochujang paste, even the small local ones.

Ours don't.

I can understanding wanting to shop in Waitrose, the stores are often nicer, you can get interesting things in there that you can't get in other supermarkets etc. What I cannot understand is why people shop in Sainsbury's..... it's massively overpriced compared to Tesco/Asda etc and the quality isn't even any better. The stores are badly laid out too, or at least my local one is!

I'm probably an Aldi shopper at heart with occasional trips to Waitrose for treats like their tiramisu.....hands down the best from any supermarket.

I went to Asda last night as it was the only supermarket open 24 hours
I’d never been in one before

I assume it wasn’t like this all the time but it literally looked like it had been ransacked by a mob

Every isle had products pushed off the shelves onto the floor

At first I thought it was restocking time and just messy because of that but it wasn’t, it was just products strewn everywhere

It would have been a huge trip hazard to someone sight impaired

@OnceUponARainbow

I use Waitrose for convenience top ups and some things that only they seem to sell, but I’m always a bit taken aback at the price at the till. Obv I can see the prices as I go round but I find myself picking up lots of nice unnecessary items as i go round - my choice obviously.

One thing I am annoyed about is that they have pushed their ethical credentials so much, and I believed that until this year when they are one of the few grocers to have kept business rates relief on their waitrose stores despite strong boost in sales as a result of covid. I get it in respect to the John Lewis stores being closed, but Waitrose like most other food supermarkets has had a boom in sales. Yes, their costs have also risen but I think overall profit has gone up too. Personal view, I know everyone likes their ethos, as do I, I know they were legally entitled to it, but I do feel that it undermines their reputation as an ethical business when other businesses have paid back this money.

As you rightly point out it's a complicated issue.

Yes sales went up but additional costs associated with COVID measures impacted profit. On top of that WR is inextricably linked with the John Lewis Partnership, which was dramatically affected by COVID.

Ultimately the business decided not to repay the rates as they were not legally obliged to do so. The focus was on closing as few JL branches as possible & making as few partners redundant as possible, which I DO think is ethical.

Closer so I save on petrol.

Four bags for 90 isn’t necessarily expensive. The quality is far better and they treat their staff fairly. That’s why I shop there.

I like Waitrose because they a) have some products you sometimes can't get in other places, and b) they seem to have a better choice of organic meat and fish. They used to make it a selling point that they got their fish to the counter at least a day quicker than any other supermarket. And I think they have a policy of not putting sweets and chocs near the tills.
That said, over this last year I have tended to go to Sainsburys for most stuff and then supplement it with meat, bread and coffee from our local farmers' market or produce van. Sainsburys bread is often really close to the use-by date and their fish range is pretty limited.

When I was shopping for a family I always went to Waitrose because I'm fussy about meat and bread and their standard is high. I didn't have the time to go to several shops and only shopped once a week. So Waitrose it was and I suspect others think the same.

My ILs shop at Waitrose only for the image. I once saw their receipt and asked them why they pay so much on a small pension when they could shop somewhere else and save money. They openly admitted they didn’t want their neighbours to see them shop somewhere cheaper. They live in a retirement village where everyone is in each other’s business. They like to pretend they are rich... irony is they are on pension credit and benefits

@SouthernComforter

I like Waitrose because they a) have some products you sometimes can't get in other places, and b) they seem to have a better choice of organic meat and fish. They used to make it a selling point that they got their fish to the counter at least a day quicker than any other supermarket. And I think they have a policy of not putting sweets and chocs near the tills. That said, over this last year I have tended to go to Sainsburys for most stuff and then supplement it with meat, bread and coffee from our local farmers' market or produce van. Sainsburys bread is often really close to the use-by date and their fish range is pretty limited.

Bread should be close to use by date unless it is rammed full of additives

Collected an ordered (John Lewis) item from Waitrose last week. Rarely go in as not as convenient as usual supermarket. I do see expensive....their 'yellow stickers items same price as full price items in our usual s/market. But it was a joy to shop there as no music. Heaven.
Having worked in retail, and having continuous 'discussions with management about radio row (and volume) I would LOVE to work there. Not sure if I can justify the higher cost for a more pleasurable shop. Currently I hate the music so much (too loud and most certainly not to my taste) that I want to get out quickly. In waitrose I would browse, therefore be tempted to spend more....maybe I'll put up with the racket.

Waitrose 80p marmalade is seriously the best. Don't think I've ever really spent much more there than anywhere else.

Hi OP - I love retail queries - i have worked at quite a lot of retailers in head office buying / strategy roles Tesco, Sainsburys, Ocado & M&S. Full disclosure, I work at Waitrose now.

Thanks for sharing your receipt. Your total basket was £88.04 and bought 41 items therefore average price per item was £2.15.

There were quite a lot of brands in there and quite a lot of protein - this will increase your overall basket price.

Having worked at other retailers I can say that the welfare standards are far higher at WR than other retailers, these standards are very important to a lot of our customers and they are willing to pay slightly more for protein. It isn't a lot more and definitely represents good value

There are definitely savvy ways to shop at any retailer. I would look through your receipt and look at anything over £2.15 e.g. nutella, the WR chocolate spread is virtually identical and costs way less.

I love shopping at WR, far more than any other retailer I've worked at precisely because of the foodie ingredients that you just don't find in other retailers - also the ambience is better and the staff are nicer.