Asda claimed victory in our latest Grocer 33 online mystery shop with a score of 87.
Our Suffolk based shopper was impressed by the smooth user experience on the Asda website. She was also full of praise for the helpful and polite driver. He seemed well-organised and took time to check all the substitutions. Availability was the only concern. Two of the items on our list were not available to order while there were six substitutions on the day. These tended to sway more to products from the same brand owner rather than the same type of product. Cadbury dark chocolate was swapped for milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate from a different supplier and the Ginsters pie became a Ginsters pasty rather than a different make of pie.
Sainsbury’s missed out on top spot by just one point with its delivery to our shopper in London. Four products were not available to order and she choose an alternative option for three of these. When the delivery arrived there was a further four substitutions. Our shopper was happy with three of these but did not accept plums instead of peaches.
The Sainsbury’s website was easy to use with a smooth checkout experience. On the day, our shopper received an update to more accurately inform her when the driver would be arriving during the initial two-hour slot and when he got there, he was helpful and polite.
Waitrose’s delivery to our shopper in Alton Hampshire scored 82. He ordered 30 items as he deemed the three suggested alternatives for missing items were not acceptable. All of the ordered items arrived with no substitutions plus a free copy of the Waitrose Weekend newspaper. The delivery was on time and the driver was friendly and greeted our shopper by name.
Online giant Amazon notched-up 77 for our shopper in Fleet, Hampshire. Six items were unavailable on ordering but our shopper accepted alternatives for all of them. On the delivery day she was told the yoghurts were out of stock and a different sized multipack was suggested. This was accepted but the alternative did not arrive.
The website was easy to use but our shopper said items were not always easy to find unless she put in quite detailed descriptions. Unlike with the major supermarkets, the driver carried out the delivery in her own car and was not wearing a uniform. She said hello to our shopper but no more than that and simply left the shopping bags in front of her and got back on her way.
Seven items were not available as our Tesco shopper in Ilford, Essex placed her order and she only felt that the suggested alternatives were acceptable for two of these. She felt disappointed by the lack of range in this case, however all 28 items did arrive as ordered. The UK’s biggest grocer scored 75 points. Our shopper also felt the website was not as user-friendly as other retailers she had used before and suggested there was “more scrolling”.
Ocado scored 72 for the delivery to our shopper in Buckinghamshire. Only 28 items were available to order and she deemed just one of the suggested alternatives for the missing five were suitable. The website was easy to use but our shopper felt it was too busy and that there was too much “being pushed” at her.
Morrisons delivery in Exeter scored 69 points. There were 31 items available but Morrisons did not suggest any alternatives for the missing two. On the delivery day one item was substituted but our shopper did not accept it as it was an completely different flavour to the ordered item. The driver was friendly but did arrive five minutes early and did not mention this on the doorstep.
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