Supermarket chain is trying to ensure staff are on hand to assist at self service tills and finding items
Every supermarket shopper knows the feeling – you get to the self service checkout and your bottle of wine pings – you look around and there’s no staff to help. Also you’re trying to find a key ingredient for baking – and it’s not where it should be in the store – but you can’t find anyone to point you in the right direction.
Now supermarket chain Morrisons has decided to take action to stop that happening – by banning staff from hiding out in the stockroom. Morrisons has tolf store staff that it is limiting their access to its stockrooms as the supermarket looks to boost its customer service ratings.
The grocery chain told employees it was imposing new restrictions to ensure it had “the right colleagues in the right place to deliver the best service to all customers”, The Telegraph reported. From August, only authorised managers and staff that scan in deliveries or handle online orders will be allowed to enter the stores’ warehouse areas.
Morrisons said it will assign some customer assistants to storerooms, while others will be blocked under the new rules. This is to allow employees to focus on “availability and service at the shelf edge for our customers and remove idle time”, the retailer added.
A spokesman for the company told the publication that the change was “part of our relentless drive to improve customer service and availability”.
They claimed the move will allow it to replenish shelves quicker and improve efficiencies across its warehouses.
It comes as the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index revealed earlier this month that Morrisons ranked lower than Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, M&S and Ocado for shoppers with a score of 79.1.
The researchers behind the ranking said this marked Morrisons’ highest rating since July 2018.
Morrisons last month said it had “bounced back” from a cyber attack which disrupted its Christmas trading, as it posted stronger sales and profits for the latest quarter. However, it came as the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket chain warned that rising inflation is driving “subdued” sentiment among shoppers.
Sales grew by 4.2% to £3.9 billion for the 13 weeks to April 27, compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Rami Baitieh, chief executive of Morrisons, said he was “pleased to report that Morrisons has bounced back strongly” from disruption linked to a cyber attack on its technology supplier Blue Yonder in November.
The retailer had previously said the incident caused slower sales growth in the quarter to January and highlighted that its recent turnaround progress was “set back” by the issue.
The company was unable to see its product availability and stock levels for four days, leading to reduced availability in stores over the key trading period.
Bosses said the business had seen sales supported by investment into pricing and promotions amid intense competition across the sector and pressure on customer budgets.
Mr Baitieh added: “Against the backdrop of a challenging macro environment with inflation driving subdued consumer sentiment, value remains at the forefront of customers’ minds.
“Throughout the first half we’ve worked hard on helping customers through these challenges with a rigorous focus on price, promotions and meaningful rewards for loyalty.”
It comes as the company pushes on with its major turnaround plan, which has seen it overhaul a raft of store operations.
In March, Morrisons announced that 365 staff were at risk of redundancy because of plans to close some of its cafes, convenience stores, florists and fresh food counters.
As a result, it said it would shut 52 cafes, all 18 market kitchens, 17 Morrisons Daily convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies.
In its latest update, Morrisons said it has launched new trials including a new-look Market Street section within its stores.
Morrisons added that it made a further £58 million in cost savings over the latest quarter, amid plans to save £1 billion by the end of the 2026 financial year.