U.K. grocery chain Morrisons is revamping its in-store experience to offer shoppers a more premium “farm shop feel.”
Morrisons’ strategy, called “Morrisons magic,” aims to attract a broader range of amateur and accomplished home cooks, Retail Gazette reported, citing The Grocer, while still ensuring a “laser focus on clear pricing and value.”
The first store to undergo the “crisper, cleaner look” is in Warrington, U.K. – a move that “underscores our value credentials, together with a tighter focus on customer favorites, some great innovations, and some wonderful new products,” Morrisons Group Trading Director Andrew Staniland told The Grocer.
“[The] modernization is continuing at speed, and the farm shop influence and added-value fresh products is really catching our customers’ eyes,” he said.
In its shift to more premium products, Morrisons added 500 new stock-keeping units (SKUs) at the store, while around 2,500 SKUs have been cut out. The chain is also highlighting its direct relationship with British farmers and fishermen.
A new Morrisons marketing campaign includes three films – Fish, Veg, and Meat – directed by award-winning filmmaker Nick Ball, advertising publication Creative Salon said.
The “Fish” film is set on stormy seas battered by wind and rain and follows “humorously determined shoppers who go to extreme lengths to source food,” according to Creative Salon.
"From hauling fish from choppy waters to pulling vegetables from the earth with trolley in tow, the message is simple: Shoppers don’t need to go to these extremes to source their food as Morrisons have done the hard work for them,” the magazine said.
Competing grocery chain Marks & Spencer is also investing in 12 new food stores on former sites of retail chain Homebase across England, as part of a renewal program to create 420 larger stores that focus on fresh foods.
Marks & Spencer’s new stores carry the full range of its food products and highlight market-style fruit and vegetables, large bakeries with fresh coffee to go, and Click & Collect counters for orders from the company’s wider fashion, home, and beauty range. The stores also feature expanded frozen sections.
New “food hall” stores will be located in Abingdon, Cannock, Farnham, Godalming and Northampton.
