News story

Waitrose uses gamified elearning to train staff on selling age restricted goods

Plymouth, UK29 Jun 2015Learning NewsSponge

Supermarket chain, Waitrose is rolling out an innovative elearning game about the law on selling alcohol, tobacco and other age restricted products.

It is the first ‘gamified’ training module to be used by Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, and will be available next month (July) to around 50,000 staff, known as ‘partners’. 

The Restricted Sales module has been created by award-winning elearning company, Sponge UK, and includes a scenario-based game where staff have to decide on the best course of action when confronted with 7 different situations. 

Kate O'Brien, Waitrose Partner Development, said: “This is a really important area for our business to get right so we wanted to make the elearning as engaging and effective as possible. 

“The combination of illustrations, photographs and video helps to create a highly interactive learning experience with the game adding in an extra element of challenge. 

“Partners can replay the game as many times as they like so it is a great way for them to practice good judgement when it comes to restricted sales purchases.” 

The elearning game is part of an on-going training programme at Waitrose aimed at making sure all staff are compliant and follow best practice within stores. 

Louise Pasterfield, Managing Director, Sponge UK, said: “We’ve worked closely with Waitrose to devise a relevant game which explores some of the real-life scenarios that partners might face on the shop floor. 

“The scoring system taps into the idea of consequences linked to decision making. 

“Games are a powerful tool for teaching decision making skills in the workplace, and Waitrose has embraced the latest thinking in this area within its compliance training.” 

The retailer is also introducing two new elearning modules on Food Hygiene to help reinforce best practice in food safety and hygiene at Waitrose stores. 

Sponge UK specialises in creating bespoke elearning for large organisations, and was named 2014 Elearning Development Company of the Year at the Elearning Awards.