Growing Trade, Combatting Retail Crime & Colleague Thank you vouchers
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Published 30 Jun 2023 in Phil's blog
Strong Food Sales and Member Discount Day returns
As we near the end of Period 5, I am pleased to share some great news about our Food and Travel trade. Thanks to the warm weather combined with strategic efforts, our food sales have exceeded expectations by over £2 million. This positive outcome can be attributed to several factors, including the improved availability of products, a focused approach to key warm weather events, and investments in store refrigeration. But is most importantly down to our fantastic hard-working Food retail colleagues, thank you and keep up the great work.
Our frozen food sales have experienced a remarkable 40% growth compared to the same period last year. This impressive result is due to the enhanced reliability of our equipment and the dedicated efforts of our supply chain team in ensuring the availability of popular summer items like ice cream.
Store Manager Maz and the team at Pelsall Food during their recent refrigeration refit
Overall, our like-for-like sales have increased by 12% during this period, with standout performances from specific stores. Notably, our newer locations at Underwood Croft, Matthews Green, and Montague Park have witnessed a remarkable growth rate of over 40% in the past three weeks.
Chorleywood Food getting ready for Member Discount Day
Looking ahead, today we also mark our second member discount day, where customers who are members in 60 selected stores will enjoy a 10% discount on their purchases. This event presents a valuable opportunity to drive membership sign-ups as well as boost member trade on the actual event day.
Fantastic Travel sales coupled with Co-op Holiday campaigns
For our Travel business, this year has truly seen customers return to travel with excitement and energy. So far this year, our sales have seen a bumper 20% increase from last year with member trade remaining constant at around 60%. A great achievement from our Travel teams across all departments at a time when we are still recruiting hard to fill our teams to maximum levels and we are introducing new systems to support improving efficiency across our processes.
We’ve had some phenomenal sales performance from our Retail teams; three of our smaller stores, Street, Beccles and Cinderford are smashing their sales targets this year, whilst colleagues Lisa Martin from Wolverhampton and Danny Miles from Gloucester are at the top of the table for individual sales year to date. Not to forget, colleagues Jeff Goodwin and Gemma Evans at Derby who are our top sellers for Co-op Holidays across the estate and are making a huge impact on our overall performance as well.
Fantastic Branch displays at Derby, Burton & Market Harborough
We regularly see bumper bookings across all the channels with customers looking to make up for lost time from Covid and reunite with family and friends as well as explore outside their normal catchments.
Our 'Taj and Tigers' tour allows our members and customers to discover some of the most enigmatic places in India and our Northern Cyprus holidays all include transfers, excursions and a rep service. And we're promoting these tours and others in our first ever 'Out of Home' Co-op Holidays Advertising campaign. Part of the initiative is the promotion of our 'Best of Jordan Tour' which we are featuring on digital billboards at Grand Central Train station in Birmingham and Piccadilly Train station in Manchester. They're running until Sunday 2nd July so there's still time to pop down and have a look.
As we move into the normal ‘Summer Lates sales’ market, those customers who haven’t yet booked are looking to grab a bargain and find some of those last-minute opportunities and we still have plenty to offer them with our Summer Sale Campaign offering free kids places and summer discounts. We know with the recent economic news, customers are being careful with their spending, but all the consumer reports say holidays are still a priority – which we’re delighted to hear.
Don’t forget as a colleague you also have your enhanced up to £500 discount for both holiday bookings and your foreign currency purchases. Find out more about this here or call one of our agents on 01922 218020. Happy Travels!
Retail Crime Updates
Since the beginning of the year, we have seen an increasing amount of retail crime – and worryingly, an increase in incidents of violent retail crime. We have, as I’ve mentioned on several occasions in this blog, on-site visits and at manager’s conferences continued to work closely through our own Retail & HR teams and USDAW to offer advice and support to prevent these incidents, as well as to support affected colleagues when an incident occurs. We have also invested over £3 million in equipment to help keep colleagues safe, deter offenders and make it easier to provide evidence for prosecution.
We do need though greater support from the police in attending incidents promptly and providing a suitable level of response. I have now set up a meeting in July with the Police and Crime Commissioner of the West Midlands to seek his urgent attention to address the way the police in the West Midlands are handling responses to ourselves. That meeting will also include senior police officers; our National USDAW organiser; the CEO of the Association of Convenience stores and our senior retail team.
I can share a few updates from our colleagues at the forefront of our loss prevention efforts.
Meg Ridley, our Loss Prevention Manager, recently presented at The National Business Crime Conference, the largest Business Crime Event in the UK. Participating in a panel discussion on Dealing with Violence, Meg showcased the remarkable work accomplished by our Safe Stores team over the past 18 months. Meg joined industry leaders from Sainsbury’s, JD Sports, One Stop, and Hampshire Constabulary, emphasising the challenges faced by both retailers and the Police in combatting violence.
Meg Ridley (second from right) speaking at The National Business Crime Conference
Additionally, last week our dedicated Safe Stores Managers, Alan Cratchley and Sean Varney, attended the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) Crime Report Parliamentary Launch hosted at the Houses of Parliament in London. As a member of the ACS board, this event provided an invaluable platform for sharing best practices with fellow retailers and engaging with influential figures in law enforcement and Government. I look forward to hearing more and hope that more action takes place following these discussions.
Safe Stores Managers, Alan Cratchley and Sean Varney at the Houses of Parliament, London for the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) Crime Report Parliamentary Launch
Colleague Thank You Vouchers Update
As approved at our Society AGM last month, this year eligible colleagues will receive Colleague Thank You Vouchers on 31st July. Annually given out as a gesture of thanks for all the incredible work our colleagues have done over the last year, the vouchers are designed to reward colleagues who are members during the financial year.
As usual, the Colleague thank you vouchers will be distributed through our Your Co-op members app and as a reminder, I ask that all eligible colleagues redeem any 2022 vouchers before 30th July 2023. If you are an eligible colleague outside one of our trading areas, you will receive an email separately to confirm the alternative Co-op Society voucher. It is important to note that all vouchers can only be redeemed once.
‘One Stop Shop’ compliance colleague training Update
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have completed the new ‘One Stop Shop’ compliance module so far and for sharing your thoughts. Our Learning & Development team have taken on board the feedback received from our colleagues regarding the timescale for completion and have now decided to extend the deadline to Saturday 29th July. You can access the module on your i.Learn the dashboard or via this link.
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