At Christmas, the retail industry experiences a sharp increase in footfall, and one particularly busy sector is butchers as customers flock there to stock up on their favourite meat products.
This year, with the uncertainty of the coronavirus outbreak, businesses are taking extra precautions, including one innovative butcher, Scott Brothers Butchers in Dundee.
Each year, Scott Brothers experiences a 300% boom in sales during the run-up to Christmas and, if current sales patterns at the Dundonian butchery are anything to go by, this is still expected this year despite the ongoing pandemic.
In fact, because the butcher – which has three branches across the city – has experienced a particularly successful few months, it could even see sales rise beyond 300%!
With this in mind, Scott Brothers have taken the decision to launch a dedicated collection centre, just a mile away from its shop in Strathmartine Road, in what is thought to be the first of its kind in Scotland.
It’s where a ‘click and collect’ will be in operation, maintaining customer safety at the busiest time of the year and allaying any fears over social distancing.
Scott Jarron, owner of Scott Brothers explained: “We get an awful lot of people visiting us at special occasions which means we get an incredible amount of orders at Christmas, everybody’s biggest special occasion. It’s fantastic but it means our shops can get overrun for collections.
“Last year some people were waiting for an hour, and that was not because we were slow or unorganised, it was just because we were so busy.
“Considering what might happen this ear – and in a bid to take any stress away from our customers – we will be operating a collection centre off-site. I am not saying there won’t be a queue of people in their cars, but it will be a much safer environment.
“It will be a far better experience for the customer.
“We appreciate this Christmas will be slightly different, but once they come to our collection centre, I think they will see what a slick process it is.
“If this is a success, we will operate the collection centre every year.”
The new collection centre, which will fully stocked with customers’ orders in refrigerated facilities and has plenty parking spaces, will be located behind Camperdown Park in Smeaton Road, Gourdie Industrial Estate.
This year, to further cope with the anticipated demand, Scott Brothers has also increased its home delivery service to include both afternoon and evening drop-offs.
Scott added: “If you cannot get to our collection point, let us come to you.”
December is the butchers’ busiest month of the year – and it has been for the past 85 years the family business has been operating for. At this time, Scott and his staff notice a significant increase in sales – by around 10% every day throughout December then, during the 22nd, 23rd and 24th, sales rise by a staggering 300% while customer numbers increase by 100%!
“We don’t want to put people off coming to the butchers but it’s not just about Scott Brothers, it’s about supporting your local economy – we want to build people’s confidence in using a butcher or other small, local businesses.
“As soon as people get to know us and have conversations with our staff, a relationship is established and that is pretty hard to break,” Scott added.
- If you would like to take advantage of the ‘click and collect’ service at Scott Brothers this Christmas, you can simply order your favourite meat products online at the Scott Brothers website before driving to pick it up at the company’s new collection centre in Gourdie Industrial Estate.
How it works
If you choose ‘Click & Collect’ service at online checkout or place an order in-store for your Christmas order (the deadline is Wed 16 Dec for online orders and Fri 18 Dec for in-store or phone orders), you can collect your festive food winners from the dedicated Scott Brothers Christmas Collection Point at Unit 2, Block B, Smeaton Road, Dundee, DD2 4UT between Tuesday 22 & Thursday 24 December, where the team will be on
hand to swiftly process your collection.
1. SHOP THE CHRISTMAS RANGE
Simply place your order online at scottbrothersbutchers.co.uk.
2. BOOK YOUR SLOT
Select your preferred collection date.
3. COLLECT
Arrive at the dedicated Christmas order collection point on your chosen day. Make sure you have your receipt and order number handy, and the name and address of the customer who placed the order if you are collecting on behalf of someone else.
4. RELAX
You won’t even have to leave your car! The friendly staff will be on hand to bring your order to you when you arrive. Following the clearly marked one-way system, you’ll be in and out in no time
