Waitrose has extended its partnership with Trust Retail for a further five years, taking the relationship through to November 2031 as the supermarket prepares to accelerate the rollout of Trust Retail’s inventory management technology across its store estate.
The technology was first trialled in a Waitrose store in March 2026 and is now live across eight stores. A wider rollout is scheduled to begin at the end of September, with approximately 125 stores expected to be live before Christmas and the remaining Waitrose store estate scheduled to follow by March 2027.
Trust Retail’s inventory management technology gives Waitrose partners a real-time view of stock, replacing processes that previously relied on batch updates. Transactions are reflected immediately across connected inventory and accounting systems, providing a more accurate and up-to-date view of stock throughout the trading day. Using handheld devices, store partners can access current inventory information to support day-to-day activities including replenishment, stock management and markdown decisions.
Stuart Gibbon, Product Lead, Stock & End-to-end End Programme at Waitrose & Partners, commented:
“Having accurate and timely stock information is important to how our partners manage products across our stores and ultimately to the service we provide our customers. As the technology rolls out more widely, it will give our teams greater visibility of stock and support faster, more informed decisions throughout the trading day. Trust Retail has worked closely with our teams to understand our requirements and how we operate. Extending the partnership gives us the continuity to build on the work already completed and support the next stage of the rollout across our store estate.”
Mike Dotson, Managing Director at Trust Retail, said:
“Implementing inventory management technology across a retail environment of this scale is a complex undertaking but our teams have worked closely together to understand Waitrose’s operational requirements, integrate the technology across its existing systems and create a solution that gives colleagues a more accurate, real-time view of stock. With the initial stores now live and the wider rollout beginning, we’re excited to take the next step in the partnership and support Waitrose as it brings these capabilities to colleagues across its store estate.”
Laurence Booth, Group CEO at Trust Payments, added:
“Extending our partnership with Waitrose for a further five years is a substantial milestone and reflects the close collaboration that has underpinned this project from the outset.”
