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John Lewis profits slump 99% in 'challenging times'


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3 hours ago, spunko2010 said:

I don't think they need to move with the times, that is in fact their downfall. A lot of their custom is, like Laura Ashley, based on nostalgia.

I can't say I shop in John Lewis branches that often, my post was mainly based on Waitrose. I find myself shopping less there now to be honest, I used to go in there for lunch but nowadays they clearly have stock delivery issues, the sandwich counter is quite often empty even at 11am. Plus, now that they've phased out the 'free' coffee cups and ask you to pay £12 (!) for one to wash yourself and bring back, frankly I don't see much point in going there - it was a nice touch but not a deal breaker. However I can get a decent sandwich from the local Co-op nowadays.  The other issue that pisses me off is the security guard actively following me and not bothering to disguise it.

On the subject of coffee cups I resent the implication that I am polluting the oceans by taking a free coffee cup - which should be fully recycled by the company that the council has contracted out. I put it in the recycling bins every day so if they are not/cannot being recycled then they should have switched to one of the many fully-recyclable coffee cups that are available now for a pittance.

The reason I am getting on my high horse over this trivial coffee cup issue is I think it's symptomatic of the wider problems at John Lewis nowadays, they don't know their target audience any more. They were mooting not selling/giving out the Daily Mail because of SJW pressure, and they backed Remain, if you want 2 other examples. John Lewis doesn't need to move with the times, it needs to be reassuringly expensive, traditional and dependably British. Getting rid of the price match would be a good start.

I think the issue is with them alienating their customer base by fobbing off economic based decisions as moral issues I.e they stopped their customer 20% off discount picks as "customers didn't understand the system"...well redesign the bloody system then!.I have an above average education and found it difficult to use. Also the "We're doing away with the paper cups to protect the environment and waste"...perhaps you should start with your fruit/veg section where everything is double packed in plastic/polystyrene. Finally, in their free newspaper this week the MD justifies the name change (same as before but they have just put `& partners` on the end) with "It may seem like a small change, but to us it's extremely important"..?...its a small change that you have wasted money on rebranding.....the money you saved on the two previously cited changes and that form part of the profit share of your "extremely important" partners!

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I buy from the cheapest most convenient source. I dont give a fuck who that affects pay and job wise since those fuckers (i.e. this countries population in general) support the current system of sky high housing costs (if not overtly then through ignorance) so I save every penny I possibly can to compensate.

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14 hours ago, The Masked Tulip said:

Good barometer for the wealth of the chattering classes.

Agreed.Look at us lol..

 

14 hours ago, sleepwello'nights said:

Which sort of leads me into the contrarian thinking that is prevalent on here. Whenever I follow our groupthink it never pays off. Latest was Vodafone, I bought some at this years low, and as I predicted it went lower. I sold a rental property in 2014 to see prices rocket. I bought gold to see it plod along, silver fell dramatically. I'm minded that the predictions we see are along the lines of those in New York at the turn of the last century when the doomsayers were predicting the growth in horse drawn traffic leading to mountain of shit in the streets. Logical following the evidence but it never happened. There's a lot to be said for following mainstream investing :(

a) you have to think for yourself.

b) It kight be worth you considering your investment timeframe.You're expceting the results too over weeks,when markets can take years to both bottom and top.

c) as ever,you need to follow the money and you generally make money with the trend.You make the most when you invest in the trend before it's begun,.

 

10 hours ago, spunko2010 said:

Doubt my post will be popular among the skinflinterati but this is the inevitable result of putting pricepoint above everything else. I really like John Lewis / Waitrose because they treat their staff well and their stores are clean. You also come across very few migrants which is refreshing. They run their business correctly but it costs a business a lot of money to run that way which is reflected in their prices.

This earnings dive is the result of consumers putting the cheapest price (Amazon) above everything else, and saying sod the other factors. The people who shop at Amazon and then whinge about the lack of funding for the #envyoftheworld NHS really grind my gears - this is why.

I sued to go to Waitrose,indulge in a free coffee,buy a load of my 20% discount stuff .Now I sjut don't go.

Longer term I think they're screwed as from my visits to the leicester one, they're customer base is mortgage free adn on RPI linked pensions.They're till jsut don't process fast enough.

9 hours ago, Admiral Pepe said:

Have a friend who works at the head office (not far from here) along with most of their family. They get treated very well and weren't too shy about sharing how much they got with their bonuses (not of late though). Great for career progression also. The problem is JL/Waitrose just haven't moved with the times. They've been happy to rely on the boomer generation and their loyalty whilst screwing on quality. They were shouting from the roof tops in 2012/13 when it all went well for them; however, they were not looking further down the road.

I've shopped myself at Waitrose (as its next door and get the reductions) for a few years and my mum has always shopped there when she's lived in England since the late 90's that i can recall. She loves them and JL. Even flies to the Edinburgh and Glasgow branches to buy her furniture as she now lives in NI. Would never hear a negative word about them, even though I showed her that her overpriced sofa could be had new for less than half price on ebay. You don't have to peel back far too see most of Waitrose/JL is just big facade

The trend in quality of late is terrible and prices are rising at an alarming rate. It is progressively going downhill and they are scalping their customers. The fresh sections like the deli, bakery, meat counter? Are all out of packets but made to look like they're not. The "fresh" cafe is stuff from the shop floor, usually the cheaper/own brand range e.g. frozen chips, not made fresh. They've joined the race to the bottom and that's on their head. They were the ones that took out these massive shops in shopping centres. They're the ones trying to price match Curry’s etc. I would prefer to pay for quality and service, but they're hiding behind their history and brand, same as M & S. We've lost quality butchers and fish mongers, and this is an example of an area where Waitrose could have excelled in. Nope they would rather have a tiny meat counter and sell bottom grade meat. Have you eaten any of their BBQ range? I wouldn't even give that to a dog. It's a shame, but they should have carved themselves a nice little niche area, rather than joining the pack. As many companies don't realise, there is a healthy market for customers who will pay a premium if its fair and warranted. They just don't like scaling down a bit. Would rather be busy fools. I knew something was up with the profits when they changed the way they were doing the reductions a few months back.

I've highlighted three bits in bold.The second one is particularly pertinent as they've agreed to pricematch competitios wih compelely different cost bases.

As I've said before on here,I'm a massive fan of footfall research when i comes to retailers.Just stand and watch the till for ten minutes.Waitorse are in deep trouble on that measure.

On another -age- they are in deep trouble.The next generation of oldies will be much more price sensitive.When I sued to go once a month,the place was a bit like the Doctors surgery.

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Popped into.waitrose today for a free coffee. Only to find you need your own cup and can no longer sit in the cafe and read the papers. Lucky i had a old cup in the car so i filledat the tqkeaway machine and popped into the cafe. On the plus side no purchase now required. So i had coffee and read the papers for free. 

I did notice the car park full of range rovers and discoveries. And the shop full of boomers. No one under 50. Overhead one boomer remark "ive seen this cheaper in sqinsburys"

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8 hours ago, Green Devil said:

Popped into.waitrose today for a free coffee. Only to find you need your own cup and can no longer sit in the cafe and read the papers. Lucky i had a old cup in the car so i filledat the tqkeaway machine and popped into the cafe. On the plus side no purchase now required. So i had coffee and read the papers for free. 

I did notice the car park full of range rovers and discoveries. And the shop full of boomers. No one under 50. Overhead one boomer remark "ive seen this cheaper in sqinsburys"

When they stopped doing the free coffee in cafe in my local it went dead immediately. It's always empty now. The funny thing is when I would get my coffee from the cafe there was always people in front of me ordering something with it. But now to get the free coffee you must buy a cake or a pastry. The psychology behind this is fascinating to me. They are no worse off yet they won't go, because they feel they aren't getting the coffee for free now. Waitrose really did shoot themselves in the foot.

On a side note for my dinner last night i had these:

LN_820274_BP_4.jpg

They retail for £4.99 and I got them for £1.79. These are Waitrose's best burgers in the store. Absolutely gopping. Nothing like what a burger should be like. The texture more reminded of a kebab. It's not difficult to put some 80/20 mince together into a shape of a patty and you would have yourself a burger that would rival most places around the world. If these boys are unable supply decent meat, what is the point of them? Might as well go to any of the other supermarkets because no way Waitorse can compete on the branded items either.

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8 hours ago, Green Devil said:

Popped into.waitrose today for a free coffee. Only to find you need your own cup and can no longer sit in the cafe and read the papers. Lucky i had a old cup in the car so i filledat the tqkeaway machine and popped into the cafe. On the plus side no purchase now required. So i had coffee and read the papers for free. 

I did notice the car park full of range rovers and discoveries. And the shop full of boomers. No one under 50. Overhead one boomer remark "ive seen this cheaper in sqinsburys"

If it's just a free coffee and biscuits you are after, open a Virgin Money savings account, pop a couple of grand in it, and you can do same with newspapers / magazines every day.

Granted they tend to be in town / city centres, but still. Whenever I'm in, I'm normally the youngest by ten years at least (I'm 35). Boomer-central.

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Pretty sure the "free coffee" axing has had a bigger effect on Waitrose than they say. I don't think it was ever free though, or shouldn't have been, wasn't the minimum spend £5? Either way I have got 2x newsletter-type emails from them since they got rid of Evil Disposable Cups Polluting Our Oceans (TM), advising that I can still get coffee I just have to bring my own cup....

Quite why they didn't just switch to these I don't know, but Head Office can add it to the list of fuck-ups.

https://kingdomcoffee.co.uk/recyclable

 

 

39 minutes ago, Admiral Pepe said:

When they stopped doing the free coffee in cafe in my local it went dead immediately. It's always empty now. The funny thing is when I would get my coffee from the cafe there was always people in front of me ordering something with it. But now to get the free coffee you must buy a cake or a pastry. The psychology behind this is fascinating to me. They are no worse off yet they won't go, because they feel they aren't getting the coffee for free now. Waitrose really did shoot themselves in the foot.

On a side note for my dinner last night i had these:

LN_820274_BP_4.jpg

They retail for £4.99 and I got them for £1.79. These are Waitrose's best burgers in the store. Absolutely gopping. Nothing like what a burger should be like. The texture more reminded of a kebab. It's not difficult to put some 80/20 mince together into a shape of a patty and you would have yourself a burger that would rival most places around the world. If these boys are unable supply decent meat, what is the point of them? Might as well go to any of the other supermarkets because no way Waitorse can compete on the branded items either.

The "Waitrose One" range has only existed for a year or so IIRC. A lot of the stuff I used to buy suddenly had its packaging changed and the price upped quite a lot, just because it was now part of this range...

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The shameful habit of disposable living must end but asking the boomers to do it is commercial suicide. You might as well ask them to go vegan for a meal or leave the car at home for a day

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51 minutes ago, spunko2010 said:

Pretty sure the "free coffee" axing has had a bigger effect on Waitrose than they say. I don't think it was ever free though, or shouldn't have been, wasn't the minimum spend £5? Either way I have got 2x newsletter-type emails from them since they got rid of Evil Disposable Cups Polluting Our Oceans (TM), advising that I can still get coffee I just have to bring my own cup....

Quite why they didn't just switch to these I don't know, but Head Office can add it to the list of fuck-ups.

https://kingdomcoffee.co.uk/recyclable

 

 

The "Waitrose One" range has only existed for a year or so IIRC. A lot of the stuff I used to buy suddenly had its packaging changed and the price upped quite a lot, just because it was now part of this range...

Originally when it was introduced it was free. You could just rock up with yoru card and get a coffee without buying anything. Then they introduced you had to buy something but no set threshold. So you can effecivetly buy a single carrot and that is enough. When I get my 8am coffee I just buy something I need for the day. At the cafe you could buy a large coffee withotu purchasing anything else for 30p. Now that's changed and it's a free coffee if you buy a pastry or something else. No idea what the rate/rules is if you would like a large coffee. Not been to the cafe since they changed the rules

I have to agree this coffee/paper thing has obviously had a massive effect. It's palpable. You can tell the store is quietier and during the usmmer holidays was a ghost town. It's not really picked up much since the kids are back either. Considering no one is using the cafe for their coffees you rarely have to queue for the coffee machine. These guys are in serious trouble if this is what it's like across the country.

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4 hours ago, spunko2010 said:

Pretty sure the "free coffee" axing has had a bigger effect on Waitrose than they say. I don't think it was ever free though, or shouldn't have been, wasn't the minimum spend £5? Either way I have got 2x newsletter-type emails from them since they got rid of Evil Disposable Cups Polluting Our Oceans (TM), advising that I can still get coffee I just have to bring my own cup....

Quite why they didn't just switch to these I don't know, but Head Office can add it to the list of fuck-ups.

https://kingdomcoffee.co.uk/recyclable

 

 

The "Waitrose One" range has only existed for a year or so IIRC. A lot of the stuff I used to buy suddenly had its packaging changed and the price upped quite a lot, just because it was now part of this range...

ref these two posts.Me and an old buddy used to go for a coffee and then mooch around and buy stuff.Now they've axed,we never go.Multiply that across the country and now they're the most expensive supermarket on the High St,poor value by any comparison and they can't even say they're higher end on service.

I'm not sad to see them go and go they will if they don't start matching the high prices with higher end service.

3 hours ago, Admiral Pepe said:

Originally when it was introduced it was free. You could just rock up with yoru card and get a coffee without buying anything. Then they introduced you had to buy something but no set threshold. So you can effecivetly buy a single carrot and that is enough. When I get my 8am coffee I just buy something I need for the day. At the cafe you could buy a large coffee withotu purchasing anything else for 30p. Now that's changed and it's a free coffee if you buy a pastry or something else. No idea what the rate/rules is if you would like a large coffee. Not been to the cafe since they changed the rules

I have to agree this coffee/paper thing has obviously had a massive effect. It's palpable. You can tell the store is quietier and during the usmmer holidays was a ghost town. It's not really picked up much since the kids are back either. Considering no one is using the cafe for their coffees you rarely have to queue for the coffee machine. These guys are in serious trouble if this is what it's like across the country.

 

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20 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

ref these two posts.Me and an old buddy used to go for a coffee and then mooch around and buy stuff.Now they've axed,we never go.Multiply that across the country and now they're the most expensive supermarket on the High St,poor value by any comparison and they can't even say they're higher end on service.

I'm not sad to see them go and go they will if they don't start matching the high prices with higher end service.

 

Going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Only a few years ago they were the darling, even the chariman received his knighthood. imo they're going to double down, quality being sacrificed even further to eek out more margin. Hopefully they proove me wrong. I would like them to but will need a radical approach.

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I noticed waitrose are selling their own reusable plastic cup next to their machines for £3. From free coffee to paying £3 ain't good business policy imo. 

I had a £4 off with every £20 voucher.  I had a look around the store and manged to find £7.50 WORTH only of stuff I wanted to buy at a fair price. If you cantwist even spend a voucher when you have 20% OFF what chance have they got? 

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Making mexican tonight for dinner. Waitrose's fuckery keeps on giving. Reduced the number of chillis in a packet from 4 to 3. Bit of coincidence with the above post, look what I got on offer today xD

photo_2018-09-15_17-58-46.jpg.7c148687c2b77bf4407d6d1644772648.jpg

One more photo for good measure. Cafe proving to be very popular on a saturday....one customer

photo_2018-09-15_17-59-08.jpg.2ba85321340f60fbaf6bc39ba46d089c.jpg

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They're toast.

They didn't have to compete upon price whilst people were going for the excellent customer experience.

They have cut that excellent customer experience and with it lost the customers; they don't have any chance of competing on price.

There is no way back.

I give them two years and Mike Ashley will buy them for buttons.

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43 minutes ago, Frank Hovis said:

They're toast.

They didn't have to compete upon price whilst people were going for the excellent customer experience.

They have cut that excellent customer experience and with it lost the customers; they don't have any chance of competing on price.

There is no way back.

I give them two years and Mike Ashley will buy them for buttons.

They don’t always compete on price though. My daughters bought me some little nibbles side plate thingys. Very nice but when we were out shopping together, I spotted them in JL. They were over 40 quid. :o  so, I asked, ‘you didn’t spend that on a present for me did you’?

’no mum, we bought them in a little gift shop in Whitby, they were about 15 quid’. 

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i dont use john lewis, debenhams, hof, waitrose or any of that shit. I do all my shoplifting in tescos. (dont use internet either, doesnt produce the same rush).

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2 minutes ago, leonardratso said:

i dont use john lewis, debenhams, hof, waitrose or any of that shit. I do all my shoplifting in tescos. (dont use internet either, doesnt produce the same rush).

How do you post on here? Telepathy?  o.O

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1 minute ago, One percent said:

How do you post on here? Telepathy?  o.O

telePATHETIC methods yes.

I meant for shoplifting, its actually impossible over the internet. Have to resort to fraud and cheap lulz for the equivalent rush to shoplifting in tescos, but its still not the same.

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2 hours ago, leonardratso said:

i dont use john lewis, debenhams, hof, waitrose or any of that shit. I do all my shoplifting in tescos. (dont use internet either, doesnt produce the same rush).

 

2 hours ago, One percent said:

How do you post on here? Telepathy?  o.O

 

2 hours ago, leonardratso said:

telePATHETIC methods yes.

I meant for shoplifting, its actually impossible over the internet. Have to resort to fraud and cheap lulz for the equivalent rush to shoplifting in tescos, but its still not the same.

Ratso has a point. How are the poor gonna rob if everything is purchased online?

The only chance is if the postie leaves it outside you neighbours without a card, you rob it, but later find out it isnt a new xbox and 10 cans of sugary drinks?

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2 hours ago, Green Devil said:

 

 

Ratso has a point. How are the poor gonna rob if everything is purchased online?

The only chance is if the postie leaves it outside you neighbours without a card, you rob it, but later find out it isnt a new xbox and 10 cans of sugary drinks?

For Amazon: order something up to the value of a grand,  when it arrives weigh the box and find something of identical weight, like a 4 pack of Fosters for example. Remove the product from the box and replace it with the similar weight item. Take a photo and contact Amazon telling them one of their staff is up to something and you want a refund or replacement. 

The packages are weighed when they leave the depot and the courier weighs them before delivery too.

Obviously I don't condone buying from Amazon until they pay tax or doing this fraud as it's illegal - but I believe it's pretty rife. I read about it on hotukdeals....! No idea if it works. 

I'm sure stokie will have other ways as he worked in an Amazon depot iirc. 

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14 hours ago, Frank Hovis said:

They're toast.

They didn't have to compete upon price whilst people were going for the excellent customer experience.

They have cut that excellent customer experience and with it lost the customers; they don't have any chance of competing on price.

There is no way back.

I give them two years and Mike Ashley will buy them for buttons.

All the partners / staff and their families use the company as a way of getting branded / new goods on the cheap. My sister has worked for them for 8 years and has a 15% discount card, and she gets another one for a family member, which my mum has. 

When my daughter was born last year, we spent over £1,500 at retail prices on top of the range pram, cot, toys, baby monitor / camera, breathing monitor, clothes, car seat and isofix base, all branded stuff at JL. I sent my mum in with a list of the product codes, took her half an hour, by the time JL did the price match, then my mum (...who doesn't even work for the company mind!) hands over her discount card and we get stuff that should be costing us around £1,500 for all in less than £1,100, bought in one place and delivered to a different address (ours) for free. Great for us but a dreadful deal for JL. All of the partners do this for friends / family any time they are getting new tellies / computers, my mum even got a new fitted kitchen this way!

Can get the same discount on your groceries at Waitrose as well I believe.

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43 minutes ago, azzuri82 said:

All the partners / staff and their families use the company as a way of getting branded / new goods on the cheap. My sister has worked for them for 8 years and has a 15% discount card, and she gets another one for a family member, which my mum has. 

When my daughter was born last year, we spent over £1,500 at retail prices on top of the range pram, cot, toys, baby monitor / camera, breathing monitor, clothes, car seat and isofix base, all branded stuff at JL. I sent my mum in with a list of the product codes, took her half an hour, by the time JL did the price match, then my mum (...who doesn't even work for the company mind!) hands over her discount card and we get stuff that should be costing us around £1,500 for all in less than £1,100, bought in one place and delivered to a different address (ours) for free. Great for us but a dreadful deal for JL. All of the partners do this for friends / family any time they are getting new tellies / computers, my mum even got a new fitted kitchen this way!

Can get the same discount on your groceries at Waitrose as well I believe.

Discount is 15% in Waitrose. I think someone is pocketing on some of your saving :P JL discount is 25% (certainly was the last time i used it, admittedly a while ago now), while electrical is something like 12%. Have they changed it recently? The staff memeber has to be careful doing this. Clothes and stuff that can be delivered to the partner is ok. Getting them delivered to a non-party if the product isn't to be used by said partner is a sackable offence, and they do monitor abuse.

My friend who works at JL HO no longer shops in Waitrose unless it’s to buy booze really. Even he can tell it's gone downhill and gets superior produce for similar or less at a country market who grown their own produce on site and use other local farmers. Unfortunately I don't have a car or I would be using it too xD

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33 minutes ago, Admiral Pepe said:

Discount is 15% in Waitrose. I think someone is pocketing on some of your saving :P JL discount is 25% (certainly was the last time i used it, admittedly a while ago now), while electrical is something like 12%. Have they changed it recently? The staff memeber has to be careful doing this. Clothes and stuff that can be delivered to the partner is ok. Getting them delivered to a non-party if the product isn't to be used by said partner is a sackable offence, and they do monitor abuse.

My friend who works at JL HO no longer shops in Waitrose unless it’s to buy booze really. Even he can tell it's gone downhill and gets superior produce for similar or less at a country market who grown their own produce on site and use other local farmers. Unfortunately I don't have a car or I would be using it too xD

Yeah you're right, it is 25% and it's still the same, hence the £400 saving. Unreal. My sister just says it's gifts for her niece and they never really question. They do monitor it, but I think that they turn a blinded eye to most of it, unless someone is blatantly ripping the piss.

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