Keeping our wastage low is an important part of the business. The most affected category is our chilled section, hence we still do our ordering of fresh and chilled products manually. We have an EPoS ordering system for everything else in the store, but we always order our chilled products manually because we feel we can manage our waste better, depending on the time of the week and the season.
We analyse our wastage reports weekly and at the moment it is currently on about 4%.
Over four years ago, we partnered with a company called Too Good To Go. At the end of each day, any unsold products that are about to reach their sell-by date are placed in a bag and sold to customers for a third of their retail price.
A lot of people rely on these bags because of the cost-of-living crisis. With the economy the way it is, our bags are always in demand and they always sell. We vary our bags so that there are a few products in each, and so that customers can get some variety. We also try to put them online at the same time every day so people know when they can reserve a bag using the app.
We also own two coffee shops, and we use the Too Good To Go scheme there as well.
It’s a no-brainer to get involved in and I’d highly recommend it to any fellow retailers. Not only are you helping local customers, but it also reduces the amount of wastage that is left at the end of each day. We have also noticed that it has brought new customers into the store. I like to trial new products in my stores, and Too Good To Go gives us the opportunity to do this more often and for longer periods of time.
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