Waitrose to partner Shell in petrol station trials
12 September 2011 09:48
Waitrose is to trial convenience stores in petrol stations run by Shell in a bid to broaden its customer reach.
The initial trial will be at just two petrol stations in Watford and Bayswater in London but if they prove a success Waitrose plans to roll out "Little Waitroses" into 100 Shell locations.
Mark Price, Waitrose's managing director, said the trial is part of a plan to get Waitrose products in front of many more people.
"Our research suggests there are six to seven million people who would like to shop at Waitrose but live too far away from our shops," he said.
Under the tie-up, Shell will continue to own the sites but Waitrose will take over their operation and act as Shell's agent for the sale of fuel.
Each store will employ about 30 staff and sell roughly 2,500 lines, including some bakery products, such as baguettes, made on site.
Shell and Waitrose recently launched a joint marketing promotion on petrol and said the forecourt tie-up is another move to strengthen the relationship going forward.
Waitrose, a part of the John Lewis Partnership, has been one of the few large supermarket chains significantly to increase its market share over the past year as customers have traded down from eating out.
Its share of the market has increased to 4.3%, but it wants to boost this further and convenience stores will likely feature heavily if it unveils more detail about plans for expansion with its half-year figures on Wednesday.
At present it has just 23 compared with 400 at Sainsbury's.
Mr Price insisted that the combination with Shell would not damage its upmarket image, and that the stores would feel like a Waitrose store, not a petrol station.
"I think the combination of their (Shell) offer and Little Waitrose will hold a lot of appeal for customers," he added.
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