Supermarket Asda is the latest retailer to announce its support of this summer‘s national events as grocers across the UK compete to entice excited shoppers.
As the nation prepares for the upcoming Diamond Jubilee this weekend, Asda has prepared a range of retail events to support this and other notable occasions.
Developed in conjunction with creative marketing agency Momentum UK, the summer events programme will open with the retailer offering customers the opportunity to pen a personalised message to the Queen. These notes will then be sent directly to Buckingham Palace.
Steph Hughes, Head of Events Marketing at Asda, noted that the Euro 2012 and London Olympics will also be marked with special events.
“This summer is set to be one the most eventful in Britain‘s history,” she said.
“ It‘s important to us that we help our customers celebrate the exciting national events the UK is hosting, while continuing to save them money on everything they need to do so.
“We‘re looking forward to activating an events programme that builds on the excitement of 2012 and supports our mission to make the shopping trip more fun.”
Competitor Tesco has also prepared for the bank holiday rush, opening an F&F pop-up store in Covent Garden yesterday which will be open until Saturday.
Aiming to combine the in-store experience with online technology, the store allows customers to try on garments which are then purchased over the internet either by scanning a QR ticket or via an iPad station and delivered or collected the next day.
The F&F virtual fitting room service will also be available to shoppers at the pop-up, while the leading grocer has ensured that 90 Olympic stores across its national network are prepared for increased visitor numbers.
Last year, the 90 stores were identified as being most likely to be impacted by summer events and Tesco has worked to oversee the replacement or overhauling of essential maintenance assets ahead of schedule prior to the expected influx of customers.
Satellite navigation systems have been updated in order that Olympic routes and traffic hotspots can be avoided to maintain the smooth running of its supply chain.
Sean Long, Tesco Maintenance‘s Planning and Response Manager, commented: “With London expecting a huge influx of visitors for the Jubilee and Olympics, ensuring that our stores are prepared and run smoothly during the summer is important for our customers looking to enjoy the summer‘s festivities.
“In the rare instance where something does go wrong, our engineers are properly equipped to respond swiftly and ensure little disruption is caused for our customers.”
