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Supermarkets discussion

maniacmartin

maniacmartin

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A new Tesco Express has recently opened near me. They take shoplifting so seriously it’s getting silly. First, it’s a small shop but has two security guards on duty all the time, each with a bright yellow body camera.

Second, they have deactivated the outdoor sensor that opens the doors. To get in, you have to wait for someone on the inside to be leaving and trigger the doors to open, or knock/wave on the door and try to catch the attention of the guard who will walk to the door from the inside, making it open for you. There’s no signs about this, so the first time I went elsewhere as I assumed they were closed.
 
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jon0844

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I know some shops have doors that open slowly to delay some grab and run thefts, but that would be on exit, not entry.

Can the guards do anything though? They could have five, but unless they form a human shield at the door, how will they stop someone?

Whether they can use minimum force or not, and that would be an issue if used before someone has actually left the property, would Tesco actually allow them?
 
DynamicSpirit

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I see Sainsburys have made a small but very welcome change to their milk packaging: The best-before date is now printed in very large letters on the side of the bottles of milk. No more searching around to try to find it - it's very obvious. It'll be nice if they can do the same thing with other products.

And unrelated but noticeable: The green colour coding for the tops that used to indicate semi-skimmed seem to have been changed to white.
 
GusB

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DynamicSpirit said:
I see Sainsburys have made a small but very welcome change to their milk packaging: The best-before date is now printed in very large letters on the side of the bottles of milk. No more searching around to try to find it - it's very obvious. It'll be nice if they can do the same thing with other products.
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Finding the expiry date on milk hasn't been an issue for me. It has been displayed quite prominently on the front of the bottle for many years, regardless of retailer.
 
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DannyMich2018

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Strat-tastic said:
Some Aldi checkout workers have taken to wearing headsets and sit there yacking with colleagues, which I find mildly annoying.
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Yes I think it's rude and often paying little attention to the customer. Fair enough if it's an important conversation but still annoying.
 
G

Gloster

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And my local small Sainsburys. As above, I was just about to answer a question from a member of staff who was the only person anywhere near, when I realised that I don’t know where they keep the tongs for the bread rolls. It is definitely a minor but persistent irritant.
 
A

arbeia

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I was asked by the Aldi checkout Lady to let me look in my shopping bag. I said "no." I appreciate she was new and just passing on the Managers instructions. The manager was manning the self service checkout and came over. I told him no, as i was not being tarred with the same brush as a shoplifter. He rumbled on about losing £100000 a week (group losses?} and what I would I suggest? It's not my job to solve their problem. I understood that as a Manager he could refuse to serve me, but i didn't give him the opportunity. All the shopping was back in the trolley and ready to pack. I told him He would no longer have my custom.
On reflection, I cold have said that he could employ minimum waged Security Guards.
Also, if they want bag searches, at least put a notice up to that effect. Also they stopped there free bags a few years ago. they surely could find it less cost to reintroduce their bags as the only ones to be used. I just am not a happy Bunny. 73 years of age and by the fact of asking to look in the bag, thus suspecting that I could be a shoplifter, really sticks in the throat.
Rant Over!
 
Kite159

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The only issue regarding checking bags is that it is fine if you are simply visiting that store, but not so good if you have visited other places before the supermarket with a product in your bag which is also sold by the supermarket. Just means you need to carry more receipts to proof that you purchased said product elsewhere.
 
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jfollows

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Xenophon PCDGS said:
One of my neighbours has a son who works for Sainsburys and has been told that the company have plans to cut the number of staff in a call centre.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68434837 refers to a "contact centre" and a "call centre" in Widnes:
Sainsbury's has announced it is cutting around 1,500 jobs, subject to consultation, as part of plans it hopes will save around £1bn over three years.
The retailer said roles would be lost at its contact centre in Cheshire, in-store bakeries, and some local fulfilment centres.
Some staff will be redeployed, with alternative roles found "where possible".
The savings will be invested back into the business, the retailer added.
Announcing the news, Sainsbury's said "the vast majority" of jobs at its Widnes call centre would be transferred to its service partner, Careline services. It described it as "a major employer" and said it offered a "range of career opportunities".
The supermarket said it had begun moving to a more efficient way of baking goods in-store, and had outlined plans to move more stores to the model.
"As a result, the supermarket will be conducting a consultancy process with bakers in these stores," the retailer continued.
Sainsbury's said it had reassured colleagues that it would find alternative roles for them where possible, as it would "for any colleague affected by changes proposed".
Jobs are also being cut from the retailer's merchandise distribution network, with Sainsbury's confirming more investment in technology and innovation, meaning the company will need fewer local fulfilment centres.
Sainsbury's chief executive Simon Roberts summed up the changes as the next part of its strategy to deliver value and good service to customers, while making "difficult but necessary decisions".
"I know today's news is unsettling for affected colleagues and we will do everything we can to support them," he added.
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I don't know how much of a reassurance being told that you'll have an "alternative role ... where possible" is, it doesn't sound like any sort of reassurance to me.
 
Busaholic

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Xenophon PCDGS said:
If any Sainsbury shopper was asked what a Sainsbury fulfilment centre was, I wander what percentage would know the answer?
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A centre where all who enter can feel fulfilled by working for Sainsbury, unlikely though that might be? Or maybe Sainsbury's are following the Co-Op into the funeral business. It's George Orwell meets Aldous Huxley territory.
 
Baxenden Bank

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I wonder what "a more efficient way of baking goods in-store" will look like? Just finished off in-store, like the pies at Morrisons? Like the 'bread from our bakery' rolls in Tesco which are delivered as finished product? Note the phrase 'our bakery' rather than 'our in-store bakery'.

I have recently started shopping in Sainsbury's because it still has decent bread rolls.
 
GusB

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Baxenden Bank said:
I wonder what "a more efficient way of baking goods in-store" will look like? Just finished off in-store, like the pies at Morrisons? Like the 'bread from our bakery' rolls in Tesco which are delivered as finished product? Note the phrase 'our bakery' rather than 'our in-store bakery'.

I have recently started shopping in Sainsbury's because it still has decent bread rolls.
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"In-store bakery" is in itself a bit vague. When I first started working in a supermarket (Safeway - almost 30 years ago now), we had a proper "scratch" bakery where goods were made from er.. scratch. I know that the bakery manager was a time-served baker, although I'm not sure how many of the other staff were.

I moved to a smaller store and I believe that it was a "bake-off" facility, where part-baked goods were delivered frozen and finished off in the store. This was certainly the case in the last place I worked (Co-op). I think that this is probably the "more efficient way of baking goods in-store" comes from.

The "our bakery" phrase is even more vague; do they mean that the retailer has a central bakery from which products are dispatched, or do they just mean that production is outsourced? In the Co-op I used to have to deal with Warburton's and British Bakeries; the former only supplied goods under the Warburton's name but the latter supplied the own-brand goods, as well as other brands such as Hovis. At Safeway we also had Allied Bakeries as a supplier, again supplying own-brand goods as well as branded products.

I don't honestly mind that much if goods are finished off in-store; you're getting a "fresh" product to an extent and there's also the added benefit of having the smell of freshly baked bread when you walk in.
 
H

Hadders

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Scratch bakeries are quite labour intensive and there has been a trend across the industry of more stores moving towards a 'bake off' operation.

'Plant' bakeries such as Allied Bakeries, British Bakeries and Warburtons supply retailers with pre-packed sliced bread and morning goods both branded and retailers own brand.
 
DynamicSpirit

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Baxenden Bank said:
I wonder what "a more efficient way of baking goods in-store" will look like? Just finished off in-store, like the pies at Morrisons? Like the 'bread from our bakery' rolls in Tesco which are delivered as finished product? Note the phrase 'our bakery' rather than 'our in-store bakery'.

I have recently started shopping in Sainsbury's because it still has decent bread rolls.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the high quality of the Sainsburys in-store bakery products, as compared to other supermarkets, is one of the reasons that I go to Sainsburys more often than anywhere else (The other main reason is that they are fairly predictable when reduced-to-clear stuff appears, and my local store still tends to do 50% reductions on fresh bakery products). I'm really not bothered about the logistics of how they organise their baking, and if they've found a more efficient way of doing it, then I'm happy. But if I notice any reduction in quality/taste, then half my reason for going to Sainsburys (and along the way buying lots of other stuff) will disappear.
 
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