As part of a broader effort to promptly attend to its customers’ queries and needs, Waitrose has launched a new information-swapping system which allows its in-store wine specialists to pool knowledge, and thus offer instant advice to shoppers, retail-week.com reports.
The system, which employs Google Apps, was implemented for the upmarket UK grocer by Cloud Sherpas. The IT director of Waitrose, Cheryl Millington, says that the new programme is designed to support the chain’s intention to have specialists for different FMCG departments in each of its stores.
At present, the software is undergoing a trial phase within Waitrose convenience outlets, with the possibility for an across-the-board implementation afterwards.
Millington stated, “We are a partnership that shares profit, power and knowledge. We wanted to choose technology to share information with partners in real time. [...] It is about helping colleagues do a better job for our customers. We are not interested in tech for technology’s sake.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
