Waitrose trails ‘personalised’ deli counters

Waitrose is testing new “personalised” services at its deli counters as it looks to invests in the customer proposition.

The upmarket supermarket has started selling hot pies and pasties at its stores in St Katherine’s Dock, London and Farnham, The Grocer reported.

It is also trialling a new food-to-order service where customers can request freshly prepared sandwiches at its London King’s Road and Andover branches.

Waitrose has leaned into its counter proposition as part its efforts to renew its store estate and entice customers.

The trials come as many of the grocers have pulled back on its counter propositions in recent months.

Morrisons became the latest retailer when it announced the closure of 35 meat and 35 fish counters as part of a wider operations optimisation programme.

It follows in the footsteps of Sainsbury’s, which revealed in January that its remaining hot food counters, patisserie, and pizza counters would close amid what CEO Simon Roberts described as “a particularly challenging cost environment”.

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