Sainsbury’s scraped just its second victory in five months by a solitary point, seeing off Morrisons in the process. Its Wrexham branch topped our table after scoring 73 points.
One out-of-stock and one not-stocked item hit its availability score, while its other key pain point came on store standards, with some of the shelves “a bit sparse”. But our shopper noted an attractive selection of bulbs, seeds and “healthy-looking plants” that gave the store a “really positive spring vibe”.
She also liked the fact there were “virtually no queues” and seven or eight staffed checkouts open, which she was “glad to see”. The store’s World Book Day costumes also caught our shopper’s eye, while a staff member named Alan was helpful. Our shopper added that all staff were friendly “and didn’t make it feel like I was bothering them by asking for help”.
Just one point behind on 72 came Morrisons in Bodmin, which matched Sainsbury’s availability performance with one out-of-stock and one not-stocked item. The store was well lit and easy to navigate, with plentiful attractive counters including hot chicken, fresh pizzas and a deli.
The staff appeared to be “working hard to replenish stock”, according to our shopper, though he noted responses to queries were “mixed”. There were also gaps in the food-to-go section and a “limited” selection in the sandwich range, while a spillage was noted in the fruit & veg area, which had not been cleaned up when our shopper returned 30 minutes later. In addition, “some aisles had discarded cardboard trays and boxes on the floor”.
There was a big drop-off to third place this week, with Waitrose in Hythe picking up just 61 points. This was not helped by a catastrophic four out-of-stocks and seven not-stocked items, which led to a zero for availability – though this was partly explained by the store’s smaller size.
Our shopper found some products to be in “unexpected places” that were quite difficult to locate, while she was “disappointed” by “how many empty shelves there were”. This might have been partly explained by staff chatting and “taking time to catch up socially”, according to our shopper, who put this down to Hythe being a “very small and sleepy town”, meaning the store had relatively few shoppers. This did mean, however, that the experience was stress-free and “good” overall, according to our shopper, who noted she would “definitely return” if in the area.
There was another big fat zero for availability at Tesco in Aylesford, which came fourth on 59 points after racking up five out-of-stocks and one not stocked. Our shopper felt the experience here “felt slightly substandard” mainly due to poor, “non-intuitive” store navigation – with vegetables “quite far away from fruit” – as well as a lack of visible staff and a high number of out-of-stocks.
She did add, though, that the cashier was “absolutely lovely” and engaged in chat about the products our shopper had bought, which “enhanced my experience overall”.
Last place this week went to Asda in Reading with 58 points but better availability than the two retailers above it. That’s not to say said performance was stellar, with two out-of-stocks and one item not stocked.
Our shopper said she had little choice but to mark the store down due to the relatively long queueing time of 11 minutes. She also felt there were “more empty boxes in the shelves than you’d normally see”.
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