Waitrose to open cashless store
Waitrose has announced plans to become the UK’s first major supermarket brand to operate a cashless store when it opens in Sky’s new flagship head office building at its campus in Osterley this summer.
It will also be the first Waitrose to open on a workplace campus in almost 20 years and will be the second smallest store in the retailer’s estate.
Spanning 1,400 square feet, the Little Waitrose branded shop will be situated inside Sky Central, Sky’s new office building, which will be home to more than 3,500 staff.
Sky employees will only be able to pay by card or their mobile devices at one of the five self-service checkouts in the store.
Waitrose opened its only other office based store in 1998 – a 520 square foot shop at British Airways’ Waterside headquarters in Harmondsworth.
The retailer said it met with groups of Sky employees to determine what they would like to see in the new store. There will be a focus on evening meals and food to go, including sandwiches, wraps and sushi, as well as a selection of fresh produce and ingredients, celebration cakes, flowers, store cupboard staples, and bread and croissants.
Travel accessories and mini health and beauty ranges will also be available.
The store will be run by Waitrose employees with 20 jobs created.
Waitrose director of convenience, Jackie Wharton, said: “Opening on the Sky campus is an exciting opportunity for us to respond to how customers wish to shop in this flagship workplace setting. Our convenience model is now more flexible than ever, especially as payment methods and ranges continue to evolve, so we’ll look forward to exploring other opportunities like this in the future.”
