Aims and objectives of Waitrose
Waitrose aims:
Waitrose aims are their long-term targets that they would want to achieve by using their skills as a business.
One Waitrose aims is to double its 3.7% market share over the next 10 years by increasing the number of stores in the UK from 173 to 250 and strengthening its foothold in the north. Read about W aitrose aims and objectives
Waitrose Objectives:
Waitrose objectives are short term targets that they would want to achieve by using their skills as a business. Waitrose objectives help to achieve their aims
The following are some of Waitrose objectives that I will be covering:
Maximise profit
Develop their organic range
Develop links with local community
Motivate staff
Increase levels of customer service
Increase the number of branches in the North
Maximising profits:
This objective is one of the most important objectives that Waitrose want achieve. This needs a lot of team work by Waitrose stores. To increase profits, Waitrose must increase revenue and avoid costs, so that it would result in the highest profits. Before using a method to help maximize profits, Waitrose must consider the costs of the method and predict the turnover before starting something that would maximize profits. So, for Waitrose to maximize profits, the revenue must outbalance the costs. Waitrose would want to maximize their profits because they could later on invest more in the business, for example, opening more branches.
One way that Waitrose maximize profits is advertising, which involves TV, online advertising, etc. Advertising raises brand awareness and attracts customers to Waitrose stores, this can raise revenues that will help to increase the profits. However, before making advertising, there must be a prediction of the costs of advertising and how much brand awareness it will raise and then predicting the possible revenue.
Advertising also involves celebrity endorsement, where Waitrose celebrities Delia Smith and Heston Blumentha, the famous chefs that help Waitrose with most food advertising: TV, Internet website, online magazine, etc. Theses celebrities share their food recipes with Waitrose; Waitrose customers can collect recipe cards while shopping. The recipes show that Waitrose quality food can make quality meals, the cards are often placed near the foods that make up the recipe. This increases brand recognition to a level that the fans of the cooks would come to Waitrose, this introduces a new type of people coming to Waitrose, and this would increase revenues.
Having a Waitrose online website will make an alternative to shopping in store for customers. This method increases the number of people buying from Waitrose. Therefore, it would help in maximising profits. Most people that go to Waitrose are elderly people and busy professionals, but this does not apply to all Waitrose branches, it applies to the Otley branch and branches in some outskirts of cities. The website makes it more convenient for customers to shop, because they may not have the time or ability to go the store, but the online website makes it much easier for them to shop. This will ensure that Waitrose will not miss out any customers that want to buy Waitrose products, this will increase revenue, which helps to maximise profits.
Waitrose products are high quality and price, selling them will help to maximise profits, because it would generate revenues, for example, organic products are high quality which will also have high price and when organic products are sold, it would generate high revenue. Essential range products are not expensive, so they sold for much less than other products. Essential products were introduced the start of the recession and even people with low incomes would be able to afford to shop at Waitrose, this would increase revenues. These revenues coming from selling different ranges of products, outbalances costs which then maximise profits.
Waitrose would want high profits because they would want to expand and open more branches and become more multinational. This is like a chain reaction, where more Waitrose stores will help to maximize profits to expand more, which will bring more profits…. and so on.
Developing Organic range:
Waitrose has different ranges of organic products that are high quality, that’s why their customers go to Waitrose on regular basic. Developing the organic will possibly bring more customers to Waitrose, which would increase revenues that will help to maximize profits. Developing the range includes finding better links with local suppliers which costs less and has the same quality or better. A Better organic range means better products and so it increases customer satisfaction.
Waitrose organic products sometimes come from the area that Waitrose has a store in, for example, Otley. Some of Waitrose store source some of their organic products, but not all local areas have perfect quality of Organic products. Getting organic products from know perfect-quality suppliers ensures that all Waitrose stores has the same good quality organic products, this is important, because customers won’t have different shopping experience in different Waitrose stores. Also, this shows that Waitrose are dependent on local suppliers making links with them will help Waitrose get organic products and the linking with local suppliers will mean that suppliers have to advertise the “Waitrose®” in some cases; this would develop links with the local community, which then would raise brand awareness in the local community and people in the community would come to Waitrose and that would increase revenues, which will help to maximise profits.
Additionally, developing the organic range will make the range very large and customers would have more choice, this will make customers satisfied because of the more choice of good quality organic products. Also developing the organic range might bring more sells, this might slightly increase the market share.
One of the best organic ranges that Waitrose sells is called Duchy range, which has a very pure high guaranteed quality according to Waitrose customers. Developing it, will be adding more products to the range, this is likely to bring more customers. In September 2009, Duchy organic, which was started by Prince Charles, had agreed to an exclusive deal with Waitrose to stock the range, and to pay a small fee to charity. In return, Prince Charles has graced a number of Waitrose stores, and dined with senior Waitrose executives and their spouses. In August 2010, the Duchy range was launched with many new lines under the Duchy Originals from Waitrose brand. Also the duchy range is 100% British and the people that prefer that, would come to Waitrose.
Motivating staff:
This is about Waitrose employees and their motivation to work. For Waitrose to be successful it is vital that their staff to be motivated and well working within the business structure, so that Waitrose will progress well.
It is very important that Waitrose staff are motivated, because it will improve the quality of service to the customer, for example, if a staff member is directing a customer to a particular store section, if the staff member is not motivated, it will show the customer that the staff don’t care and it may cause customer dissatisfaction, so the customer won’t come back, however if staff are motivated and confidant, the customer would appreciate the service and may come back again to Waitrose. Also this may make loyal customers that constantly come back to Waitrose.
Customers coming back to Waitrose because of good service will increase revenue, which means it will help Waitrose to achieve their objective of maximising profits. This shows that when staffs are motivated, they can make Waitrose more productive and more efficient. When staff are more motivated they will be more likely to show up every day (high attendance) and this is likely to reduce staff absenteeism, which will also reduce staff turnover, this will reduce staff costs because if staff are present, Waitrose will not have to pay for a replacement staff to cover the period the staff is gone, so this will reduce costs, which again will help Waitrose to achieve their aim of maximising profits.
Overall, staff being motivated is very important and vital to Waitrose progress and customer satisfaction. In conclusion, if staffs are not motivated it will cause great disadvantages and Waitrose may not progress well, therefore objectives will not be achieved.
Develop links with local community
This is about Waitrose improving relationships with the local community and their contribution to it. It is good for Waitrose to support the community, because it will have a good impression on Waitrose, and it would raise brand awareness, so customers would come to Waitrose stores, this would raise revenues, which would help in achieving the aim of maximising profits.
Waitrose sponsors many local events, for example, in Otley, they sponsor the Otley carnival. One of the best links with the local community is the weekly farmers market in Otley, the food sold there has very high quality and Waitrose financially sponsoring farmers that produce this food will mean that farmers have to advertise the “Waitrose®” logo, this will raise brand awareness and show people that go to the weekly farmers market that the food quality in farmers market is the same as in Waitrose stores. This will make customers come to Waitrose, this increases revenue, which is good for profits. They also sponsor the Otley fayre, which includes many fun activities for families. Advertising the “Waitrose®” logo in the Otley fayre might make families come to Waitrose and this would increase the different types of customers that come to Waitrose.
Waitrose is constantly developing links with the local community, and the evidence for that is; Waitrose, every month donates £1000 between three local good causes the customers chose. When a customer shops at Waitrose, at the checkout, customers receive a token which then is placed in a box of a good cause. The more tokens the good cause has, the bigger donation it receives. This is called the “Community Matters Scheme”. This is a good deed to community and it would really show how Waitrose supports the community, also this would raise brand awareness locally and nationally.
So it appears there is equilibrium between Waitrose and the local community, Waitrose gives to the community and the community gives back.
Increase levels of customer service:
Waitrose would want to achieve this aim because they would want the improve ability to supply Waitrose customers with their wants and needs, this would make customers come back to Waitrose, and that would generate revenues that would help to maximise profits.
One way that Waitrose can increase customer service is by providing as many as possible self-check outs in conventional stores and big convenience stores; this makes shopping in Waitrose quick, easy and more convenient. This will improve the service given to customers.
Another way of increasing levels of customer service is having a “Customer Desk” in Waitrose stores, which deals with customers complains, lost property, product refunds, etc. This will make customers satisfied because if there is something wrong the “Customer Desk” will help make things right.
When increasing customer service, Waitrose train staff in different areas, for example, when directing them, dealing with customers, complains, etc. Therefore, it would leave customers satisfied, this may make customers come back to Waitrose.
So increasing on customers service will constantly and consistently exceed the customers’ expectations for Waitrose, this would make customers come back to Waitrose.
Increase the number of branches in the North:
Waitrose is generally popular and concentrated in the south of England and has few branches in the north. Gradually increasing the number of branches in the north will increase the number of customers, so this would increase brand awareness. Also when increasing number of branches in the north, this will help Waitrose make links with the community, which will increase brand awareness even further.
As seen below, Waitrose is very popular in the south because it has many branches:
Waitrose would be more popular if more conventional stores and convenience stores increase in the north, convenience stores are better in busy shopping areas like city centres, busy roads, market areas, etc., this is because they are used as convenient supplements to main shopping, so Waitrose will have all the essential ranges in their convenience stores. These stores do not cost as much and are easy to start up and will generate more revenues than the costs of store.
Conventional stores, which are the main stores, opening them is better in neighbourhoods that don’t have many stores around and away from big competitors like TESCO and ADSA. A main store would attract customers in the area that the store is in, and that would be really profitable for Waitrose.
Increasing stores in that fashion will generate high revenues that would out balance total costs and help to Waitrose to achieve their objectives of maximising profits. Also the sales that the stores bring are likely to increase the market share of Waitrose.
Additionally, Waitrose would have more customers and there reputation would increase. Increasing branches would extend the service to customers because it would be easy for customers to get to their nearest Waitrose branch, this also makes Waitrose branches for the economy easy to go to, which could gain Waitrose new customers, this makes shopping for customers more convenient and it would increase revenues. Also, increasing the branches in the north would classify Waitrose store to be national in England and Scotland. So overall, opening more branches in the north is a very important objective that Waitrose would want to achieve to become a more successful business.
