The supermarket will roll out the changes to all of its stores in the coming months
Morrisons has announced a major revamp across all its UK stores to deliver customers a more upscale experience, resembling that of a “farm shop”.
The 126-year-old grocery chain is enacting this upmarket transition as part of a fresh initiative to enhance the shopping experience, aiming to entice “amateur home cooks” with an abundance of fresh produce.
Customers can anticipate an array of offerings similar to those found in farm shops, featuring superior quality goods and enticing pre-prepared foods such as marinated meats and breaded fish ready for cooking.
At the forefront of this push into the high-end food retail segment is Andrew Staniland, the company’s new trading director, who is orchestrating the ‘Morrisons Magic’ plan. This strategy intends to bolster Morrisons’ “Market Street” venture by centring on its most popular products.
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Andrew Staniland told the Grocer: “The crisper, cleaner look is underscoring our value credentials, together with a tighter focus on customer favourites, some great innovations, and some wonderful new products.”
Alongside the enhanced emphasis on top-tier ready-to-cook meals, Morrisons will also lure consumers with a heightened presence of well-known brands. Future store layouts will feature branded bays showcasing titans like BrewDog, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Myprotein.
Industry sources have revealed that Morrisons is set to roll out significant changes in the next few months across all its UK stores, with some locations witnessing these updates sooner.
The Grocer reported that Morrisons in Warrington was one of the early stores to experience the revamp, where approximately 2,500 “SKUs” were replaced by 500 fresh products. “SKUs” or stock keeping units represent individual product lines, indicating a substantial culling of 2,500 items from the supermarket’s offering.
This strategy echoes Asda’s March efforts, when the company removed 6,000 products from the shelves to streamline operations and enhance customer shopping experiences.
Moving towards a more farm shop feel is just one of the massive changes Morrisons has revealed this week. Just a few days ago, the retailer told its loyalty customers that they can now earn thousands of points on their More Cards, even when shopping elsewhere.
Loyalty customers will be able to earn points with more than 300 brands, including ASOS, eBay, Just Eat, Very, and Hotels.com. This means shoppers will be able to build points faster and earn money off their weekly food shop, even when buying clothes or booking their next holiday.
To cap off this shift in direction for Morrisons, it emerged on Wednesday that Morrisons had signed an exclusive deal to sponsor the fourth season of Clarkson’s Farm – a clear bid to boost its visibility among farm shop fans.
Alex Rogerson, Morrisons’ customer & trade planning director, said: “From field to fork, acres to aisles and tractors to trolleys – this sponsorship is a celebration of the quality of great British-farmed food, the journey it takes and the farmers who make it possible.
“Morrisons works directly with British farmers and growers all year round, and we pride ourselves on our great quality, fresh food as a result.”