Project Garnacha
Contact us
  • Home
  • About Garnacha
  • Blog
  • Photo gallery
  • World Winemakers Project

Waitrose promotions

29/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Supermarkets often release promotions which do not offer good value for money. Just by adding up you sometimes see two items priced higher together than if bought individually. A report on wine by the BBC read that of all the wine sold in supermarkets in the UK, over 60% is bought on special offer. 

For many years I have bought and learnt about wine at Waitrose. They are one of the best stocked supermarkets for wine, they have some of the best wine selections in the market. 

As a wine lover (and accountant), I have the habit of monitoring wine prices over time. I often take pictures of any interesting wines for educational purposes: buy some, sample, compare and write wine notes. 

I remember the day I felt out of love with Waitrose vividly. It was a Saturday morning and the shop was fairly empty. Was busy comparing grapes and wines when I watched the wine attendants put promotional prices in the wine section. I got excited, the reward for being at the shop just after opening first thing in the morning I thought.

25% discount it read, yet it had the same price that in the picture I had just taken a few minutes earlier "before discount". Have been working in pricing for many years, this is fairly dishonest (illegal?).

Shock horror, this cannot be happening. I checked a few wines on offer and they also had the undiscounted price under the "offer" price. Surprisingly discounted and undiscounted prices are the same. They are not alone doing this, other supermarkets do the same. 

From a pricing strategy perspective, I believe this mishap contaminates Waitrose's image of high quality. Of all the price skimming strategies that Waitrose could use, this is not the most appropriate. Let's hope that they will correct it and lift their standards up.

That day something changed, I stopped being a regular customer at Waitrose. Not only because I believe their behaviour to be dishonest, more importantly because in my opinion some of their wine is overpriced.

You pay for the good selection of wines they have, yet any value for money is foregone at selection. It is easier and more fun to achieve good value for money buying wine in other supermarkets. This is a good example of one of the factors why discounters like Lidl and Aldi are quickly growing market share at the expense of traditional UK supermarkets.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Luis Garcia studied Business Administration at Toledo University and Management Accountancy (CIMA) in London where he lives and works.

    In his spare time he is a passionate nature lover (vines and trees), enjoys making things (wine, olive oil) and helping Spanish people settle in London. 

    Archives

    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    January 2018
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    In The Vineyard
    Tasting Notes
    Tasting Notes
    Winemaking

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.