Waitrose launches bid for 'transumers' in first railway station outlet

Sarah Butler
20 August 2014
The Guardian
Attracting ‘travelling consumers’ is part of supermarket’s new strategy as Little Waitrose opens at King’s Cross in London
The retailer is looking to open stores near stations and other travel hubs to attract commuters rather than high-street shoppers. Photograph: Felix Clay
Waitrose has opened its first outlet at a railway station in an effort to attract “transumers” – or travelling consumers.
The 2,500 sq ft (230 sq metres) Little Waitrose store at King’s Cross, central London, is the grocer’s smallest outlet to date, crammed into a corner site at the heart of the station. Yet it still has an on-site bakery as well as snacks, ready meals, everyday basics and fresh fruit and vegetables.
The supermarket is also launching small-format stores in southern counties including Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire after opening most of its new directly operated sites in central London.
Jackie Wharton, director of convenience for Waitrose, said the “transumer” was a fast-growing market that provided an opportunity for a loyal following.
While the retailer is likely to look at other station concourse shops if the King’s Cross outlet proves successful, Wharton said Waitrose was looking at opening stores near stations and other travel hubs rather than in traditional town centres, where people passing by may be more focused on buying fashion or meeting friends for lunch than picking up groceries.
“What is successful is becoming part of customers’ daily pattern, so that they are going past the door in the morning and evening either by their homes or work. Today we want to do things when we want and how we want and that theme has come to food retailing. The landscape is changing hugely,” she said.
As part of its attempt to target commuters, Waitrose is also puttinglockers at tube stations and at Gatwick airport for customers to pick up goods ordered online.
Waitrose plans to open 10 convenience outlets by the end of January next year, including one close to Manchester Piccadilly station.
About 70% of the group’s 45 Little Waitrose stores are in the south-east of England, with most of those further north run by the supermarket’s franchise partner Welcome Break, which operates motorway service station outlets.
Waitrose has been overtaken as Britain’s sixth-largest supermarket by Aldi, the German discounter. Waitrose, which is part of the staff-ownedJohn Lewis Partnership, admitted this month that profits would fall this year as it invested in matching the price cuts of its bigger rivals on key items as well as opening stores and expanding or improving others.