Sainsbury's in Stirling offered the best shop this week. It was the only retailer to provide a full basket and our shopper described it as "a lovely store with staff to match".
Staff around the aisles escorted our shopper to several items, although most were easy to find. There was no queue and the "very pleasant" checkout assistant packed our shopper's bags.
The service at Morrisons, Falkirk, was also impressive, but there was one out-of-stock. The store was quiet and tidy and staff were willing to help our shopper find several items. There was a small queue and the checkout assistant greeted our shopper and offered to pack.
Waitrose in Thame had one out-of-stock item. Although there were several packing trolleys in the aisles, they did not get in our shopper's way. An assistant helped her find the wholemeal pitta bread but had an unwelcoming attitude. However, the checkout assistant was friendly, offered to pack and asked if our shopper needed any help getting to the car.
Availability let Tesco in Ashby-de-la-Zouch down there were two out-of-stocks. Our shopper had trouble finding staff in the aisles to help but the checkout assistant was helpful and offered to pack.
Asda's Llanelli branch also had two out-of-stock items. However the store was clean and staff escorted our shopper to the correct aisles. The checkout assistant greeted our shopper and also offered to pack.
Winner: Simon Ross, store manager, Sainsbury’s Stirling
Your store provided an impressive level of service. How has your staff training evolved? About six months ago we reinvented the way we train colleagues by launching the Wow customer service training programme. It has proved a real winner and really gives us a point of difference. We have carried out market research with customers and as a result retrained all the colleagues here. As part of the programme, we held interactive group sessions and acted out different role-play situations instead of just telling staff what to do. The feedback from our shoppers has been phenomenal and our service levels are the strongest they have ever been all because customers are officially at the heart of what we do.
Do you have any plans for students with freshers' week coming up? Yes. Starting from next week, students will be able to grab a goody bag we are preparing for just 69p at a stall we are holding at the local university for freshers' week. It is full of great own-label essentials, such as Basics toothpaste, as well as a Nectar card. We will also give out Meal Deal gift cards, which parents can credit to top up the student's account.
How's the Switch and Save campaign going? Really well. It's even better than it was and has really come back with a bang during the past few months with more advertising. Customers are really interested in the huge range of Basics lines we have such as DVD players, microwaves and vacuum cleaners.
If you could change one thing about your store, what would it be? I would like a much bigger general merchandise department. Currently 25% of our stock is non-food and I would like to increase it to 35%. I would also love to have an online service. We are looking at undergoing a refit, which would allow us to launch an online service and start selling more non-food, though the plans have not been finalised yet.
Tell me about your latest availability initiative. Gap Busters was launched last year and has been a phenomenal success. It is a fast-track replenishing system that enables us to order and receive fast-selling lines within 24 hours. It has really boosted the levels of availability at our store.
Staff around the aisles escorted our shopper to several items, although most were easy to find. There was no queue and the "very pleasant" checkout assistant packed our shopper's bags.
The service at Morrisons, Falkirk, was also impressive, but there was one out-of-stock. The store was quiet and tidy and staff were willing to help our shopper find several items. There was a small queue and the checkout assistant greeted our shopper and offered to pack.
Waitrose in Thame had one out-of-stock item. Although there were several packing trolleys in the aisles, they did not get in our shopper's way. An assistant helped her find the wholemeal pitta bread but had an unwelcoming attitude. However, the checkout assistant was friendly, offered to pack and asked if our shopper needed any help getting to the car.
Availability let Tesco in Ashby-de-la-Zouch down there were two out-of-stocks. Our shopper had trouble finding staff in the aisles to help but the checkout assistant was helpful and offered to pack.
Asda's Llanelli branch also had two out-of-stock items. However the store was clean and staff escorted our shopper to the correct aisles. The checkout assistant greeted our shopper and also offered to pack.
Winner: Simon Ross, store manager, Sainsbury’s Stirling
Your store provided an impressive level of service. How has your staff training evolved? About six months ago we reinvented the way we train colleagues by launching the Wow customer service training programme. It has proved a real winner and really gives us a point of difference. We have carried out market research with customers and as a result retrained all the colleagues here. As part of the programme, we held interactive group sessions and acted out different role-play situations instead of just telling staff what to do. The feedback from our shoppers has been phenomenal and our service levels are the strongest they have ever been all because customers are officially at the heart of what we do.
Do you have any plans for students with freshers' week coming up? Yes. Starting from next week, students will be able to grab a goody bag we are preparing for just 69p at a stall we are holding at the local university for freshers' week. It is full of great own-label essentials, such as Basics toothpaste, as well as a Nectar card. We will also give out Meal Deal gift cards, which parents can credit to top up the student's account.
How's the Switch and Save campaign going? Really well. It's even better than it was and has really come back with a bang during the past few months with more advertising. Customers are really interested in the huge range of Basics lines we have such as DVD players, microwaves and vacuum cleaners.
If you could change one thing about your store, what would it be? I would like a much bigger general merchandise department. Currently 25% of our stock is non-food and I would like to increase it to 35%. I would also love to have an online service. We are looking at undergoing a refit, which would allow us to launch an online service and start selling more non-food, though the plans have not been finalised yet.
Tell me about your latest availability initiative. Gap Busters was launched last year and has been a phenomenal success. It is a fast-track replenishing system that enables us to order and receive fast-selling lines within 24 hours. It has really boosted the levels of availability at our store.
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