// Waitrose said its stores are better stocked than some of its rival supermarkets
// The claim comes amid reports that a bungled ERP system integration had led to gaps on Waitrose’s shelves
Waitrose has insisted its stores are better stocked than some of its rivals despite claims that a bungled IT integration has left many of its stores with empty shelves.
The John Lewis Partnership-owned supermarket said independent data showed product availability at its branches was higher than at competitors.
In a post on Twitter, Waitrose said: “We’re not complacent and as always we’re working hard to give our customers the best Christmas.”
The Sunday Times today makes claims about product availability in Waitrose. Our customers, who we value hugely, deserve to get the full picture… pic.twitter.com/cXovZEEelM
— Waitrose & Partners (@waitrose) November 6, 2022
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The Sunday Times reported that Waitrose’s new ERP system had been beset by technical issues, which had led to the wrong quantities of items being recorded in store.
The newspaper said this had led to unexpected shortages of products such as cheese, coffee and baked beans.
The Waitrose spokesperson did not deny the report of issues with the IT project, and an update to the independent data referred to by Waitrose showed it was lagging behind rivals including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Asda.
Waitrose said reports about empty shelves did not provide “the full picture”.
Referring to data up to October 24, the supermarket said its product availability had been higher than at Tesco and Morrisons and that in other weeks it had been “first or second”.
“Independent data shows our product availability is ahead of many rivals and the system improvements we’re making will lead to even better service for our customers,” Waitrose executive director, James Bailey said.
