Asda Perth wins with ‘helpful, chatty and polite’ staff

Asda picked up its first service and availability win since mid-July as its Perth store claimed top spot with a score of 78.

None of the five stores provided a full basket this week but Asda had one out-of-stock and one not-stocked item. Our shopper got a “very good first impression” from the store and found the layout “logical and easy to navigate”. Despite using a “wonky trolley” she was impressed by wide aisles and praised the “helpful, chatty and polite” staff.

The “friendly and helpful” checkout operator was the star of the show at Sainsbury’s Chester. On the whole, staff were polite and keen to help, but our shopper had difficulty locating them on occasion and store standards were patchy. Only an out-of-stock on the mushrooms stopped her from completing a full shopping list.

Availability was the biggest issue at Tesco Poole, with three out-of-stocks and two not-stocked items. However, our shopper was impressed with an “attractive display of seasonal plants” which was “well watered and cared for”. The store was “well maintained and tidy”, but she was hampered by “quite a high degree of restocking taking place”.

Morrisons Blackburn and Waitrose Reading finished joint fourth on 60 points this week. Both stores received negative feedback on the layouts and checkout experience.

Our Morrisons shopper noticed “many of the displays required restocking” and our Waitrose shopper was upset that she was not acknowledged at the till and no one offered to help more generally.