As Waitrose customers will be aware, the retailer has been plagued with availability issues as of late since an IT issue hit stock replenishment.
There were reports of shortages in the run up to the final May Bank Holiday weekend, and although the supermarket recently insisted that the problem had been fixed, a stream of social media complaints well into the month of June showed it had a lingering impact.
It’s not the first time the upmarket supermarket has been hit with availability issues. Back in November last year, The Sunday Times reported that an IT glitch had led to empty shelves and poor sales.
Retail Gazette looks at what exactly is causing supply issues at Waitrose, whether the issue has been rectified, and if some long-lasting damage to the business has already been done.
What’s actually going on?
If you haven’t witnessed the empty shelves for yourself, you need not look far to find a slew of shoppers venting their frustrations over the recent Waitrose problems on social media.
Recounting their trip to the upmarket grocer on Twitter earlier this month, one social media user said:
“You are kidding Waitrose.. our local store in Hove has more empty fruit and veg shelves than those with any products. Signs have been up for 10 days now saying you have IT issues. Really need to sort them out quick!”
Another shared their experience: “@waitrose Just been to Waitrose, Salisbury, I think they have been burgled judging by the empty shelves. How long does it take to restock? Far too long it seems!”
Another shopper described the experience at their local Waitrose as “almost Soviet”.
To get to the bottom of what’s really happening, we reached out to Waitrose.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said that “a slow running system update” had led to shortages, although it had only impacted “fresh stock”.
However, he claimed that the update was now complete and that there was no longer an IT issue.
“The move impacted different shops to varying degrees, and many retained availability throughout,” he added.
However, given that the issue was first reported in late May, the stream of complaints on social media that continued well into June show that it had a drawn-out impact.
Every single time I have been to Waitrose since I got back from holidays there’s been no or virtually no soft fruit.
(This photo was taken lunchtime today)
I do not understand how an IT failure can result in this level of stock loss for WEEKS. pic.twitter.com/bPcEPynHQr
— Fionna O’Leary, 🕯🇪🇺 (@fascinatorfun) June 12, 2023
The spokesperson admitted the slow running of the system update had caused “a knock-on impact delaying deliveries” to the supermarket’s branches.
“The huge volumes of stock we move every day means that even a small delay can have a knock-on impact – and this is what caused some shortages,” he said.
“At the same time, the good weather means demand was also much higher than usual, with stock turning over more quickly, which also had an impact.”
The spokesperson insisted that availability is now back to normal.
He said: “This was an isolated issue and branches have neen operating normally again for some time now.”
Empty shelves reported in November
However, this isn’t the first time the supermarket has been left with empty shelves.
The November issue was down to “a bungled integration” of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, according to The Sunday Times.
This led to the corruption of the supermarket’s stock data and caused product shortages, which the newspaper claimed had led to “dismal sales”.
Waitrose went on the defensive after the report and insisted that its stores were better stocked than some of its rivals.
The newspaper reported that the partnership was replacing its “antiquated systems” with an Oracle one but when the two systems had to “talk” to each other during the switchover, the new system produced incorrect stock numbers.
A source who has worked at the supermarket for more than 25 years suggests to Retail Gazette that the past month’s issue is linked to the November incident and believes the problem will reoccur.
The insider claims that the grocer doesn’t have “up-to-date systems” and described its current ones as “obsolete”.
However, the Waitrose spokesperson insists the two incidents are unrelated and says the problem “occurred ahead of the last Bank Holiday weekend” and was “not linked to anything beyond that”.
He says the ERP was not impacted by the recent update.
However, the Waitrose insider claims the retailer is being hit by a lack of investment in “decent IT”, which he says staff have complained about for as long as they could remember.
“Yet they don’t change it,” they said. “The results are now starting to show in an outdated system.”
While the grocer has injected cash in the new ERP system recently, even John Lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White admits that more investment is required in Waitrose’s supply chain and technology.
She told the Employee Ownership Association earlier this month: “The scale of investment needed by the partnership in areas such as technology and the Waitrose supply chain is clearly greater after that period of rapid expansion and then the period of austerity.”
Whilst talking about potentially taking external investment to fund such improvement, she said it would be “a tragedy to walk past what needs to be done to ensure the partnership has the fuel it needs to invest, transform and grow”.
However, the Waitrose spokesman said it was not fair to say it was not investing in technology.
“This is a priority and…we’re already rolling out new systems, which meant that the majority of lines weren’t impacted.
“We know there’s always more to do, and are laser-focused on providing the very best for customers. As a result we’ve won nearly half of all The Grocer 33 Awards this year, including wins whilst we were working through this issue.”
Indeed, while the Waitrose employee says the retailer’s old systems have led to availability issues, technology expert Julian Burnett, a former chief technology officer at both Sainsbury’s and John Lewis, says this may not be the case.
“If systems are stable, performant and meet fluctuations in demand, they’re fine.
“The key is the exchange of data which opens up the opportunity to integrate and create connections between systems. That can overcome legacy.
“The challenge is when there’s a disconnect between the system and process, which can happen for a number of reasons that might not be that the system is antiquated.”
He explains: “Sometimes when you change a system, you’re also changing a process and you’re not changing like for like. You need to modify the process, data and training otherwise they become misaligned.”
However, Burnett is confident that the grocer will overcome these issues.
Indeed, the torrent of complaints on social media appears to have subsided by the tail end of last week, which suggests the grocer has gotten on top of this issue.
Sharon White should be sorting out @Waitrose supply problem. Its my nearest shop but every time I go there lately there are empty shelves so I have to go elsewhere. This is killing a good brand.
— Londongirl Democracy FBPE (@Curiosity7709) June 6, 2023
Longer term damage
While Waitrose isn’t the only supermarket to have suffered from supply issues recently, with poor harvests in Spain and Morocco hitting some fruit and veg products earlier this year, could this recent bout of empty shelves have hit the retailer’s reputation?
A look on Twitter suggests that some regular shoppers are threatening to jump ship in favour of better-stocked rivals.
One frequent Waitrose shopper tweeted: “@waitrose Hi. As a regular Waitrose customer I am devastated to see the lack of fresh produce at Stratford Upon Avon branch just now. On enquiring with the staff it is all down to computer issues. Absolutely unbelievable. Off to Lidl now…!”
@waitrose again- empty shelves- this is constant. Not sure who’s planning logistics but it’s not working. Another customer stated that apparently outside of the M25 is no longer Waitrose’s target market. Am off to @marksandspencer !! pic.twitter.com/kUtXsCYCIb
— Maria Darby-Walker 🇺🇦 (@mariadw1234) June 12, 2023
Catherine Shuttleworth, founder and CEO at retail marketing agency Savvy Marketing, believes the availability issues would “significantly” impact sales at Waitrose.
“If a product isn’t available to sell, people won’t be buying it, and also due to the extent of the issue people are starting to shop in other retailers,” she explains.
“People have had no choice other than to shop elsewhere to complete the weekly shop. And the risk in that they try somewhere else and they’re happy with it.”
GlobalData lead analyst for retail Nick Gladding also points out that “range is a key differentiator for Waitrose”.
“Waitrose customers have high expectations of the retailer because of the product choice and service it offers, so falling short on these metrics risks impacting customer loyalty.”
However, he says the recent bout of product shortages in everything from olive oil to tomatoes and peppers due to the unseasonably cold weather in southern Europe may have helped mask the problem to shoppers.
“These could make stock shortages seem like a less Waitrose-specific issue to its customers.”
However, shoppers can be notoriously fickle. One too many wasted trips to the supermarket and they may well head to rivals like M&S and Sainsbury’s.
Waitrose clearly needs to fix the availability issues once and for all.
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