Waitrose calls time on online delivery charges
The online arena may well be entering a serious shakeup with news that Waitrose has ended delivery charges with regards to its online operations. This is sure to place pressure on Tesco's and Sainsbury's to follow suit and could lead to a substantial price war in the sector.
While Waitrose has been a part of the online sector for some time, the perception of the company is as a higher priced higher margin business which has effectively reduced the company's reach in the market place. However, the ending of delivery charges for online purchases could well attract significantly higher customer numbers for the group.
Even though the supermarket sector has been very active in the online market for some time, up until now delivery charges have remained fairly static. It will be interesting to see how and when Tesco for example reacts to the move by Waitrose and what impact this has on the make-up of the online market place.
At a time when food prices have gone through the roof, any resemblance of a price war would be well received by consumers looking to cut their everyday bills. While Waitrose may have grabbed the headlines in the short term, there is no doubt that Tesco in particular will not wait long to react to this move and try to grab back the initiative in what is a very competitive market place.
Share this..
Related stories
UK taxpayers to make profit from asset protection scheme
The Asset Protection Agency, the agency in charge of the UK government's asset protection scheme, is confident that UK taxpayers could walk away with a profit from the scheme of anywhere between £5 billion and £6 billion. This is the scheme utilise by Lloyds bank and Royal Bank of Scotland which effectively insures their toxic assets and "puts a lid" on any potential liabilities in the future. I...
Read MoreHouse prices continue to increase
06/11/2013 House prices have continued to rise for the ninth consecutive month. The average price increased by 0.7% in October to almost £172,000, creating an annual increase of 6.9%. Despite this, price and demand is still yet to hit the same levels seen during the housing boom in 2007. However, mortgage lender, the Halifax did say that there has been an increase in demand from potential b...
Read MoreTories Plan An Energy Discount Card
In the world of energy supply there are many ways in which you can reduce your bills including dual services and direct debits. However, the opportunity to reduce energy bills by using a direct debit payment system is not available to as many as four million in the UK who do not have bank accounts or withdraw all of their funds each week. Many of these people are paying up to £100 extra a year...
Read MoreD2 Jeans announces move into administration
Today saw the first post-Christmas casualty in the UK retail sector when D2 Jeans, the company set up by Sir Tom Hunter, announced a collapse into administration. The company was acquired by a management team back in January 2008 although there have been concerns for some time about the company's rental arrangements which were considered to be relatively high and were causing financial difficultie...
Read MoreAlistair Darling signals higher taxes in the UK
After being subjected to weeks of speculation regarding the finances of the UK and the current Labour governments spend, spend, and spend again policy it has been revealed that the UK taxpayer will eventually need to replenish the country's finances. While this was always going to happen many taxpayers are aggrieved at the fact that they were kept in the dark so long.
If we do see a...