In a week when none of the retailers could provide a full basket, the Morrisons branch in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, has landed our Top Store award for its first-class customer service and bounteous fresh produce selection. The other retailers were either blighted by poor availability, unhelpful checkout staff or a raft of packing trolleys, but our Morrisons shopper was impressed by the full ranges on display, particularly the fruit and veg. Our winning store triumphed despite the odds stacked against it. Data from CACI indicates that Morrisons is the least-suited retailer to the Aylesbury area, with most shoppers classified as 'wealthy achievers' and relatively few of the 'hard-pressed' that typically shop at Morrisons. The most suited store is town-centre rival Sainsbury's. But store manager Alan Milsom said the location of his 33,000 sq ft store was a major attraction, although it was not without its challenges. "We are located in Aylesbury town centre next to a railway station that serves London commuters," said Milsom. "Our free car park is popular with commuters, so we have planned to set up a pay and display system to ensure our regular customers can find a space. "They are happy with this and understand why we have had to do it. But obviously we value the commuters as customers as we get a lot of trade from them."



Q&A with Alan Milsom Store manager of the week


 


Which products are surprising you with their popularity? Our Polish range of produce is extremely popular and growing rapidly. We haven't got a large Polish community in Aylesbury but our regular shoppers seem to be interested in the different food. Only 12 of my 232 staff are Polish and I haven't tried any of the food yet but I've heard the range, especially the bread, is delicious. What other products are selling well? Our Market Street offering always trades well and customers can't seem to get enough of our organic fresh produce. Like-for-like sales in our houseware range are up 9% on last year and our audio bar area, which includes CDs and DVDs, is doing great business since we expanded it recently. Have you had any difficulties managing availability? We didn't experience any flooding here but still had to increase our orders of bottled water. It started on the Monday when the floods did the real damage in nearby Oxfordshire and Berkshire. People were panic buying and walking out with 10 to 20 cases of own-label bottled water at a time so we were forced to introduce a maximum purchase of six cases per customer. If you could change one thing about your store, what would it be? I would love to extend our in-store café. It is doing excellent business and is a real draw for the customers, but it is often operating at full capacity and would benefit from an extension. Who are your local competitors? We have got two 24-hour Tesco outlets about a mile-and-a-half either side of us, and a Sainsbury's here in the town centre. We compete by concentrating on what Morrisons traditionally does best - providing dedicated customer service and strong availability. We are passionate about monitoring our stock levels and maintaining high quality. I believe that is the point of difference between us and our competitors.


 


Asda Shoeburyness, Essex


2 - Our shopper was disappointed by the poor quality broccoli at this Asda branch and said the whole fresh produce section was below par. The Cadbury Dairy Milk and loose oranges were out of stock and she was told the Wall's Viennetta and pre-packed baking potatoes were not stocked. However, the staff were polite and keen to help. We visited on 3 August at 10.15am. Our shop lasted 45 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was eight minutes.


 


Morrisons Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire


1 - In a poor week for availability, this Morrisons outlet was top of the stocks, although it had sold out of the Hovis Wholemeal loaf. The store was also free of packing trolleys and spotlessly clean. The friendly staff were polite and helped our shopper to find products. Of the 24 checkouts, a sufficient 16 were operating. We visited on 3 August at 11.25am. Our shop lasted 55 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was five minutes.


 


Sainsbury's Stoke Gifford, South Gloucestershire


6 - Last week, Sainsbury's had five out-of-stock items but it's even worse this week with the pre-packed baking potatoes, HP sauce, lasagne, chilled garlic baguettes, croissants and minced beef all sold out. Unfortunately the staff didn't help matters by appearing reluctant to help our shopper find certain items. We visited on 3 August at 12.10pm. Our shop lasted 52 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was three minutes.


 


Somerfield Leamington Spa, Warwickshire


2 - This Somerfield branch was well maintained and had a bright, welcoming atmosphere. An assistant was happy to check out the back for the missing Mr Muscle spray but it was out of stock, along with the Birds Eye garden peas. The potatoes, own label jam, Shreddies and 2-pack of garlic baguettes were not stocked. We visited on 3 August at 6.30pm. Our shop lasted 32 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was four minutes.


 


Tesco Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire


0 - When our shopper couldn't find the required size of HP sauce or Scotch eggs at this Tesco, he was directed to customer services. According to their computer records, this particular store did not stock the two items, which our shopper found surprising. However, the store was clean and tidy with well-advertised special offers. We visited on 3 August at 10.15am. Our shop lasted one hour and 10 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was four minutes.


 


Waitrose Burgess Hill, West Sussex


1 - Packing trolleys were obstructing some of the aisles in this store and the mushy peas, frozen roast potatoes and McCain hash browns were not stocked. To our shopper's dismay, the HP sauce was sold out and the checkout assistant didn't offer to help pack his bags either. We visited on 3 August at 5.50pm. Our shop lasted 45 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was seven minutes.


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