Who we visited

Welcome co-op, Cooden Sea Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex

esso on the run, Hampton Court, Surrey

mace, Newton Park, Four Winds, Belfast

spar Crawley Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex

tesco express, Bradley Stoke, Bristol

How they performed

The Welcome Co-op store on Cooden Sea Road in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, was in excellent condition when our mystery shopper visited. The store was extremely clean and well-merchandised. However, it was sold out of the six pack of unsmoked bacon rashers and of individual tins of Whiskas in Jelly cat food.

The Esso on the Run store at Hampton Court Road in Hampton Court Road did very on availability: it had every item on our shopping list in stock. However, the store was also relatively expensive, offering the highest prices on eight out of the ten items on our list.

Our mystery shopper at the The Mace store in Four Winds, Belfast, was not able to get three of the items on his shopping list. Convenience stores in Northern Ireland are not permitted to sell alcohol, so it did not stock Stella Artois beer. It stocked a two-litre bottle of semi-skimmed milk, rather than four pints and did not sell the 250g package of Tetley's tea bags. The store offered Danish Tulip unsmoked bacon at a deeply discounted promotional price of £0.99 per pack.

The Spar store on Crawley Avenue in Crawley, West Sussex was very clean and tidy when our shopper visited. However our mystery shopper was surprised when she found a large spider lurking by the fruit. The store did not sell the 4x440ml pack of Stella Artois beer.

Our mystery shopper at the Tesco Express store on Pear Tree Road in Bradley Stoke, Bristol found it in superb condition. She noted that it was clean, tidy and well-organised. The staff packed his shopping bag for her. She also reported that the store had promotions of up to 50% off across the wine section.

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