Morrisons has this week proved small is beautiful, with one of its smallest stores winning this week's top store award.
The Crossmyloof store on the south side of Glasgow is just 18,500 sq ft, but provided a full basket and excellent customer service, according to our shopper, who was impressed with the multibuy offers and the swift response to an error on the receipt.
Sainsbury's in Devizes, Wiltshire, also impressed, with just one item - the naan bread - out of stock. It was, however, let down by shelf-stackers' trolleys obstructing the aisles.
Our Waitrose shopper was left frustrated by the number of products he could not buy. Both the Heinz Baked Beanz and unsmoked bacon were out of stock, and he was unable to find a further seven items because they were not stocked. However, the ambience of the Balham High Street store in London was welcoming.
At Asda in the Chelmer Village area of Chelmsford, our shopper was escorted to an item she could not find and thought the smart new shirts worn by staff looked good. The experience was tempered however by two mistakes on the receipt, including a bogof that didn't register.
The Tesco store in Bridgend supplied 32 of the 33 items and our shopper was pleased a member of staff took the time to explain Clubcard to her.
Winner: Ian Donaldson, Morrisons, Crossmyloof, Glasgow
How do you manage availability in such a small store? The trickiest thing is weather-related products. Recently this has been a challenge that the staff have risen to. Products such as fresh fruit juices and yoghurts have been selling particularly well.
What would be the one thing you would change about your store? The average Morrisons store is 35,000 sq ft, so we are just over half that. If we weren't restricted by space I would like a customer café, as it's something customers ask for.
Also I'd like a full fresh preparation area for fresh salads, pizzas and sandwiches. We have got the key parts of Market Street - fresh produce, pies, butchers, fishmongers, bakery and deli, but our sandwiches and pizzas are prepacked.
When was your store last in the papers and why? It was at the start of May with Carol Smillie in the Glasgow Herald to promote fundraising for Cancer Research UK. This is her local store and she spent a couple of hours here to promote the charity.
Who is your biggest competitor? It is probably the Asda in Goven. It is probably the easiest to get to through the south Glasgow road network and it is substantially bigger, about 40,000 sq ft. I normally go to competitors' stores about once a month to see what they are doing.
What do you do for the local community? The Let's Grow campaign has been a success and we have retained close contacts with the schools and scout group that signed up to it. It has been successful in getting kids to bring their parents into the store to collect the vouchers.
What percentage of your products are non-food? We have a very small electrical selection, but it is less than 10% of the store. The site is very limited because it borders the railway line on one side and the motorway on the other side.
What are your everyday management challenges? Just keeping everyone happy. The biggest thing we work on is customer service. I motivate staff by talking to them and explaining what the company is trying to do. I find the more they understand, the more they will buy into it.
The Crossmyloof store on the south side of Glasgow is just 18,500 sq ft, but provided a full basket and excellent customer service, according to our shopper, who was impressed with the multibuy offers and the swift response to an error on the receipt.
Sainsbury's in Devizes, Wiltshire, also impressed, with just one item - the naan bread - out of stock. It was, however, let down by shelf-stackers' trolleys obstructing the aisles.
Our Waitrose shopper was left frustrated by the number of products he could not buy. Both the Heinz Baked Beanz and unsmoked bacon were out of stock, and he was unable to find a further seven items because they were not stocked. However, the ambience of the Balham High Street store in London was welcoming.
At Asda in the Chelmer Village area of Chelmsford, our shopper was escorted to an item she could not find and thought the smart new shirts worn by staff looked good. The experience was tempered however by two mistakes on the receipt, including a bogof that didn't register.
The Tesco store in Bridgend supplied 32 of the 33 items and our shopper was pleased a member of staff took the time to explain Clubcard to her.
Winner: Ian Donaldson, Morrisons, Crossmyloof, Glasgow
How do you manage availability in such a small store? The trickiest thing is weather-related products. Recently this has been a challenge that the staff have risen to. Products such as fresh fruit juices and yoghurts have been selling particularly well.
What would be the one thing you would change about your store? The average Morrisons store is 35,000 sq ft, so we are just over half that. If we weren't restricted by space I would like a customer café, as it's something customers ask for.
Also I'd like a full fresh preparation area for fresh salads, pizzas and sandwiches. We have got the key parts of Market Street - fresh produce, pies, butchers, fishmongers, bakery and deli, but our sandwiches and pizzas are prepacked.
When was your store last in the papers and why? It was at the start of May with Carol Smillie in the Glasgow Herald to promote fundraising for Cancer Research UK. This is her local store and she spent a couple of hours here to promote the charity.
Who is your biggest competitor? It is probably the Asda in Goven. It is probably the easiest to get to through the south Glasgow road network and it is substantially bigger, about 40,000 sq ft. I normally go to competitors' stores about once a month to see what they are doing.
What do you do for the local community? The Let's Grow campaign has been a success and we have retained close contacts with the schools and scout group that signed up to it. It has been successful in getting kids to bring their parents into the store to collect the vouchers.
What percentage of your products are non-food? We have a very small electrical selection, but it is less than 10% of the store. The site is very limited because it borders the railway line on one side and the motorway on the other side.
What are your everyday management challenges? Just keeping everyone happy. The biggest thing we work on is customer service. I motivate staff by talking to them and explaining what the company is trying to do. I find the more they understand, the more they will buy into it.
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