UK grocer Waitrose has extended the capacity of its rapid delivery service, more than trebling the number of slots available each week.
The expansion of digital, virtual and delivery services form a key part of the new John Lewis Partnership five-year plan, led by new chairperson Sharon White. Grocer Waitrose and department store chain John Lewis, which comprise the partnership, will make several significant changes to their operations as the group looks to stem falling profitability and target a £400 million annual profit in. Waitrose has warned customers that delivery slot interest is 'high' this year. The supermarket said: 'If you can 't find a delivery slot to suit, we still have Entertaining collection slots. My slot is booked 2-4 Tuesday 23rd and I can amend until 11.45am Monday, so about 26 hours in advance. However, because I have ordered a bird, I cannot change the actual delivery slot. Add message Report See all.
How Do I Change My Waitrose Delivery Slot
The retailer said it can now provide more than 2.5 million households the option to use the service to get the food and essentials they need during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis.
In a statement released today (17 April), Waitrose said by the end of next week at least 40% of these new slots will be reserved exclusively for the elderly and vulnerable. The major grocers are able to identify people most in need after the government shared the relevant data with them a few weeks ago.
Waitrose said it will contact customers on the government's list of vulnerable people to inform them they have priority access to rapid slots – a service which enables shoppers to receive up to 25 grocery items within two hours or less or on the same day.
The Waitrose rapid service has been trialled from eight London shops, as well as in Hove, East Sussex. From today it will be available in the areas surrounding an additional 20 shops across London.
Waitrose Rapid will be available in the areas served by the following stores, from today:
Barbican
Belgravia
Brent Cross
Buckhurst Hill
Canary Wharf
Chiswick
Clapham Junction
Enfield
Finchley Road
Harrow Weald
High Holborn
Kings Cross
Mill Hill
Monument
Putney
Richmond
South Bank Tower
South Harrow
Stratford
Whetstone
By adding these new locations, Waitrose said it will increase the number of available rapid delivery slots from 2,000 to 7,000 each week.
The supermarket chain, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, has also announced it will offer an additional 10,000 online grocery collection slots, taking the total number available each week to 30,000. It is doing this by introducing its online collection service in around 70 additional shops across the UK by the end of May.
Some 40 shops are expected to offer this by the end of April, and at least a quarter of the collection slots will be reserved for the elderly and vulnerable as is the case with its general Waitrose.com service during this time of health emergency.
Ben Stimson, Waitrose.com director, commented: “We are now making more online deliveries than Christmas week, every week, and have increased slots to reach 20% more customers than usual.
“We know there is demand for more slots and we are doing all we can to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get the essentials they need – especially those who need them the most.”
He added that Waitrose has recruited hundreds of drivers and increased the number of extra people-hours picking Waitrose.com orders by nearly 50%. Research from Totaljobs and the British Chambers of Commerce, released today, found logistics and IT sector job availability spiked significantly in March, as businesses adapted to the crisis and sought the relevent skills base.
There’s no doubt that getting a shopping delivery slot has been harder than usual since the UK went into lockdown eight weeks ago.
In an attempt to take some of the stress away, Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has compiled a list of top tips.
The list shows how far ahead each supermarket releases its slots and how you might get your hands on one, reports BirminghamLive.
The supermarket with the longest lead time appears to be Tesco with a massive 21 days, which assumes you know what you’ll want to eat three weeks in advance.
Waitrose and Morrisons release their slots just three days ahead.
So you might know what you want to eat but will you then have enough time to get your order in before all of the slots are quickly taken?
Can I Change Waitrose Delivery Slots
Here’s how the supermarket giants are operating according to Moneysavingexpert.
Three days ahead
Waitrose - used to be in partnership with Ocado but not any more.
So it might well be looking to expand times in due course.
For slots, it said it is 'advising customers to check each morning'.
Shoppers surveyed said they had success from 6am to 8am as well as randomly during the day.
Morrisons - shoppers top tip was to try just after midnight
Five days ahead
Co-op - told Martin Lewis that 'slots are launched every day, at around midnight'.
Seven days ahead
Iceland - the company said times were specific to stores, so Martin Lewis's 'Forumites' reported different results in tandem.
Sainsbury's - told Martin Lewis that 'when the slots are released will vary - there isn't a specific time and it doesn't depend on the store'.
One follower reported success every Monday.
Ocado - the online supermarket was a former partner with Waitrose but recently jumped into bed with M&S and is due start selling its products, as well as its own, from September.
It said there wasn't a fixed time when they were released, but priority customers were emailed about availability.
Once they've had a chance to book, non-priority customers are notified - via a message on the home page - and are then able to book any remaining slots.
14 days ahead
Asda - revealed that slots update as and when they become available in each area. Popular times to get a slot were typically 10pm or midnight, though some followers said between 2am and 4am.
21 days ahead
Tesco - Martin Lewis was told 'slots tend to be released at midnight for three weeks ahead' but that it's busy adding extra vans to create more slots.
Top tips include logging on ten minutes early and then trying to book after midnight.