The trial is designed to test how customers might be prepared to shop differently in the future with the aim to save hundreds of tonnes of unnecessary plastic.
Image: Waitrose & Partners Abingdon launches Unpacked refillables test. Photo: courtesy of Waitrose & Partners.
A dedicated refillable zone, a dry-aged beef cabinet and a new café, are among the new features customers at Waitrose & Partners Abingdon will be able to enjoy from this Friday.
The Abbey Close shop will now be the retailer’s third store in Oxfordshire* to launch Waitrose Unpacked, where customers can choose from a selection of packaging-free products.
The trial is designed to test how customers might be prepared to shop differently with in the future with the aim of saving hundreds of tonnes of unnecessary plastic.
The dedicated refillable zone*, will include dispensers for dried products, frozen ‘pick and mix’, coffee, wine and beer refills, as well as detergent and washing up liquid refillables.
As part of the new look shop, customers at Waitrose & Partners Abingdon can also look forward to:
A new dry-aged beef cabinet
A new Waite and Rose café with additional seating
An updated bakery area
Updated self-serve checkouts
Updated beer, wine and spirits department with a larger assortment
Chris Andrews, Branch Manager at Waitrose & Partners Abingdon, says:
“Our Oxfordshire customers will have a big say in how we take the Unpacked concept forward and how our customers across the UK might shop in the future. It’s still early days in Wallingford, but Botley Road has been a huge success so we’re looking forward to seeing how shoppers in Abingdon now respond.”
The supermarket originally launched its Unpacked test in its Oxford Botley Road shop in June. Following an overwhelmingly positive response at the store with more than 90 per cent of those surveyed saying they would continue to shop Unpacked, the retailer announced it would be extending the test there and adding it to three more shops by the end of the year.
It launched in Cheltenham in September, Wallingford earlier this month, and has now launched in Abingdon.
Source: Company Press Release