Waitrose has revealed plans to close boost its UK market share and close in on rival supermarket chain Sainsburys this year.
The upmarket retailer said its marketing and investment strategy for 2008 will see around £10 invested in new product development, up to £8m put into store refurbishing and £20m going behind price promotions, including an in-store price-match campaign on up to 100 Sainsbury’s products .
Waitrose said its focus for 2008 would be placed on “products, services and store environment “.
In addition to the NPD strategy, which is due launch with a number of own-label products, including a new Deli range, Waitrose bosses confirmed plans to double its spend in TV advertising .
Last month saw the launch of the retailer’s CRM programme, aimed at online customers. The setup includes monthly emails being sent to shoppers and data sharing with parent company John Lewis .
Waitrose currently has 187 stores operating across the UK and plans to open nine more by the end of the year.
The grocer saw its share of the UK grocery market increase slightly to 4 per cent last year, while sales grew 6.8 per cent to almost £4bn for the year to 26 January 2008.
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