Richard Jackson, store manager at Asda Rotherham, added another Top Store award to his list of achievements this week, taking his tally to three wins in the past five years. His first was at Safeway in Buxton, near Manchester, and the second was at Morrisons Meadowlands in Sheffield, but this was the first time The Grocer was able to ask him directly what the secret of his success was. Like Asda's Wythenshawe store, which won the Top Store award last week, the 65,000 sq ft South Yorkshire outlet impressed our shopper with excellent cleanliness, attentive customer service and a full basket. It also went the extra mile of having a greeter welcome shoppers and a good ratio of staff to shoppers. With a hat-trick of Top Store awards from three different retailers, Jackson explained the values that were key to his success. "It's vital to keep the store clean, well-merchandised and staffed by cheerful colleagues. Asda is great at empowering staff and we have a great social scene here," he said. "From a Hallowe'en party for colleagues' kids, to having a bucket of English breakfast poured over managers in baths for Children in Need, we work hard and play hard." Although Jackson believes his store is deep in "traditional Morrisons territory", he will be encouraged by CACI data indicating Asda is the best-suited store to the area.



Q&A with Richard Jackson Store manager of the week


 


Which lines are proving popular at the moment? Asda has got an industry-leading special offer on cases of beer at the moment and they are trading well. Cheap beer has got bad press lately but we enforce our Challenge 21 programme vigilantly and refuse to sell to a lot of people each week. We've also relaunched our wine offer and have a three-bottles-for-£10 deal that is very popular. The brands that are on offer are effectively half-price. Asda has also pulled its gift range together in one gift-shop area for the first time and this has proved to be very successful as we have a two-gifts-for-£8 offer. These deals push up the shoppers' average spend and sales of gifts have soared between 200% and 300% since we grouped them together three weeks ago. What will be the top-selling products this Christmas? The Nintendo Wii is a much sought-after product and they now have a restricted supply. But the £49 electric guitar is going down a storm - Argos is selling them for £149. We were even forced to sell our display model this weekend. Do you have an online service? Yes, and our orders are about 33% up on last year. I think this is because more people are seeing the benefits of ordering online and we have more products available for delivery. What is your competition like? We are surrounded by Morrisons stores. South Yorkshire is classic Morrisons territory and there are three huge, fairly new stores within a few miles of our branch. Importantly, our substantial non-food offering, which makes up 45% of our store space, sets us apart from Morrisons. Our branch is one of the highest-performing stores in the region for growth in the George clothing range. I am fortunate because, prior to Sir Philip Green's acquisition, I spent four years in fashion retail with Sears Group stores such as Topshop and Topman so I know how to market clothing effectively.


 


Asda Rotherham, South Yorkshire


0 - This 24-hour Asda branch had an excellent standard of cleanliness and was clearly signed. A full basket of goods reflected the strong level of availability and the customer service was also top notch. A friendly greeter gave our shopper a cheerful start to her shop and the store's Photo Centre was busy but well-staffed. We visited on 16 November at 10.00am. Our shop lasted 58 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was six minutes.


 


Morrisons Taunton, Somerset


0 - This Morrisons store was bright, spacious and welcoming, as well as being easy to navigate and well-merchandised. It provided all 33 items on the list and a floor assistant personally guided our shopper to the location of a missing item. The checkouts let the store down, however - only half of the 22 tills were open, causing long queues. We visited on 16 November at 9.37am. Our shop lasted one hour and 36 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was five minutes.


 


Sainsbury's Solihull, West Midlands  


1 - Although the Cadbury Milk Chocolate Fingers were out of stock at this Sainsbury's branch, the staff tried hard to find them in the stockroom. However, they could not work out whether the rump steak was out of stock or not stocked. The store was clean and tidy and the aisles were well signed with no obstructions. We visited on 16 November at 9.30am. Our shop lasted one hour and five minutes. Time spent at the checkout was six minutes.


 


Somerfield Littlehampton, West Sussex


0 - Our shopper virtually had the store to herself at this small Somerfield branch. The store was well-maintained and had a good level of stock, offering a full basket of goods. The checkout operator did not offer any help packing our shopper's bags but the staff were, on the whole, helpful. We visited on 16 November at 11.00am. Our shop lasted one hour. Time spent at the checkout was four minutes.


 


Tesco Sutton, south London


1 - There were gaps on the shelves in the biscuit and frozen food aisles in this large Tesco. However, the checkout staff were processing the items quickly to keep the queues down, despite the store being very busy, and all 36 tills were open. The floor staff were also helpful and did their best to find the tomato purée, which was out of stock. We visited on 16 November at 12.20pm. Our shop lasted 35 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was six minutes.


 


Waitrose Formby, Liverpool


2 - The bakery section at this Waitrose store was looking sparse and our shopper was incorrectly charged for a more expensive brand of avocado. The Weetabix and required size of Anchor butter were out of stock but speedy cashiers kept till queues to a minimum. We visited on 16 November at 4.45pm. Our shop lasted one hour and five minutes. Time spent at the checkout was five minutes.


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