Friday 4th October 2019
Bestway Wholesale strengthens its offer with improvements for all retail customers
Bestway Wholesale has strengthened its offer for independent retailers and made it even more convenient for customers to shop with the wholesaler, with new initiatives which improve the service to both unaffiliated retailers and members of its best-one symbol group.
The initiatives follow the move of the best-one brand from Bestway Wholesale to Bestway Retail earlier this year, with teams in both divisions of the business given clear focuses to improve the offer to retail customers - be that a cash and carry and Xtra Local retail club offer under Bestway Wholesale or a branded fascia offer with a consumer focus under Bestway Retail.
Bestway is also reaching completion of a ‘depot hub project’, whereby 23 of its 60+ depots have become delivery hubs which have fast-pick areas and increased numbers of loading bays among other features which will improve delivery efficiencies and the service to delivered customers. These depots still stock a collect offer for customers residing nearby too, whilst the remaining depots now have additional room to improve the collect range they stock and increase focus on the shopping experience in depot with deliveries removed.
New improvements to the company’s operational structure will further improve delivery options for customers and give customers more choice, including:
- Investing in the Bestway Chilled Distribution Centre to increase it in size by 50%. This has enabled Bestway to introduce 1,500 additional chilled lines into its range, half of which are available for single pick to give customers maximum choice and flexibility when ordering the range on the website or app
- By routing the chilled and some bakery ranges through one central location, Bestway has been able to offer better date-life and pricing for retailers on these products.
Making improvements to availability and choice of product too, Bestway has also introduced a common range of 5,000 products across all its depots, ensuring consistency of range among the most popular products that retailers need.
Digital enhancements have also improved the shopping experience for Bestway’s retail customers, with an order tracking feature launched on both the app and the website which provides the customer with a convenient four-hour delivery window and makes customers aware of any product substitutions at the point of pick. This feature has already saved time for 35% of customers asked and has ensured customers can better plan their staffing to be available when an order arrives.
Ashar Rehman, Head of Operations at Bestway Wholesale, comments: “With 44% of the Bestway business now delivered, it’s been important for us to optimise our supply chain and delivery structure to ensure the customer has the best possible experience and maximum choice of products and ways to shop, whether they are delivered or shopping in depot. Depot and sales teams have also been given clear focuses through the depot hub project and by aligning the reporting structure of the best-one Symbol Group within Bestway Retail.”