‘Crystal clear on growth’: Waitrose on becoming ‘more confident’ in its brand personality
Waitrose is utilising a more “confident” communications strategy to bring new shoppers into the brand, says customer director Nathan Ansell.
Waitrose & Partners has been making steady progress in recent months. For grocers, winning share is a crucial metric. Until July, Waitrose had been either in decline or stagnation on market share figures since January 2022, according to Kantar.
The grocer returned to market share growth in July and August this year. Waitrose also saw its strongest sales growth since November 2023 in the six weeks ending 3 August 2024, according to Kantar.
Waitrose’s customer director Nathan Ansell describes it as a brand which has worked hard to “plant the seeds” for continued growth. He claims the retailer attracted around 1.5 million new customers in the year-to-date.
Ansell is speaking to Marketing Week on the opening day of Waitrose’s refurbished John Barnes department store in Finchley Road, North London. The re-opening of the branch comes as the grocer announces a £1bn investment into its store estate, which will be invested in both new and existing shops over the next five years.
