Ringing in the changes for freshers

Students returning to the University of York this autumn can look forward to a raft of improvements designed to make their shopping experience easier and more enjoyable.

Four self-scan checkouts have been installed at the busy Nisa Local Market Square store to reduce queueing time and plans are afoot for 24-hour opening during the first two weeks of term.

Adam Viney, multisite retail manager, said the 4,000 sq.ft. store, the busiest of the three university Nisa sites, has a constant flow of shoppers and queues build quickly.

“The queues in the shop get very big and as a result we were getting a lot of dumped stock with students unwilling to wait.

“The installation of four SCOs will ease the queues and at the same time keep aisles clear and allow shoppers a better view of what is on the shelves as well as allow staff the room to fill up.”

In the first week since installation, 70 per cent of all transactions in the Market Square store have been through the SCOs which will make a marked difference once the full complement of students returns.

“The new tills will also allow us to open for extra hours with the 24-hour opening, without the need for more staff,” said Adam.

Following extensive work on the range in the store with Nisa’s category management team, the products available to shoppers should also now be better matched, with 2,000 lines delisted and 800 new lines introduced, including 300 from Co-op’s popular own brand.

An extra bay of frozen foods has been introduced, almost 50 chill lines added to the range and a F’real milkshake machine brought into the store.

Adam said: “We knew there was work to do on the Market Square store and so we have worked on getting the range right as well as the flow of the shop.

“It looks much better and seems to be working well with sales up 5% year on year in the first week after the re-lay completed.”