Asda has landed its first win in almost three months with a score of 90 in this year’s Grocer 33 Christmas shop.
On arrival at its Killingbeck, Leeds store, our shopper found plenty of sanitised trolleys and cleaning products, and was able to enter easily without having to queue.
The branch got full marks for customer service. There were plenty of “friendly and polite” staff on hand to help our shopper find items, and they were quick to move their trolleys and boxes out of the way.
Availability was strong, with just one out-of-stock and one not-stocked product. The only area of low availability was the bacon fixture.
Our shopper faced a short wait at the checkout but was full of praise for the “friendly and efficient” operator, who handled her items with care.
The only real area of concern was a higher than normal amount of shoppers not wearing masks or face coverings.
Tesco in Cupar, Fife was hot on its heels with a score of 88. It achieved full marks for both service and standards yet lost availability points with nine not-stocked items.
The mystery shopper had a “very good first impression” with no wait to enter, barriers to manage any queues, and clear social distancing stickers. The branch was “busy” without being crowded, and employees and customers alike “made an effort” to maintain social distancing.
Our shopper did have some difficulty finding a handful of products on her list. However, she was glowing regarding the team’s efforts to help locate items or give her more information about unavailable lines, saying she had “never met such helpful staff”.
This was topped off with the till operator offering to pack her bags and closely following her instructions on how to do so.
On entering Morrisons Liskeard, Cornwall, our shopper spotted neatly stacked trolleys and hand sanitiser. Here again there was no queue.
She described the Christmas display as “eye-catching” and overall found the store easy to navigate and “well presented”.
Several aisles had visible gaps, however, including the alcohol and cleaning product sections. Staff were replenishing, but this led to a few abandoned restocking trolleys and packaging throughout the store. A handful of team members also failed to keep a two-metre distance, and some customers followed their lead.
Sainsbury’s took fourth place, and our mystery shopper’s visit began with her having to double back to the car park to collect a trolley, as there were none outside the entrance.
Its Shiremoor, North Tyneside store returned this week’s worst availability with five out of stock and three not-stocked SKUs. The early Christmas rush had “clearly taken staff by surprise”, but our shopper felt employees were “doing all they could” to quickly fill the gaps scattered around the store.
Its score was bumped up by “very helpful” staff, including the checkout operator, who seemed “genuinely interested” in how her shopping had gone.
Last place this week went to Waitrose, Solihull, albeit still with a solid score of 74.
Although there were “only a few gaps” in availability, this led to three out of stocks.
The mystery shopper welcomed its “relaxed” atmosphere and was relieved to find his fellow shoppers and employees all wore face masks.
Partners were “mostly helpful” too, including the employee manning the checkout.
This week’s results:
| WEEK 26: SATURDAY, 05/12/2020 (9.00AM - 12.00PM) | WINNER | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asda | Morrisons | Sainsbury’s | Tesco | Waitrose | |
| Location | Killingbeck | Liskeard | Shiremoor | Cupar | Solihull |
| Date | 05/12/2020 | 05/12/2020 | 05/12/2020 | 05/12/2020 | 05/12/2020 |
| Time slot | 9am - 12pm | 9am - 12pm | 9am - 12pm | 9am - 12pm | 9am - 12pm |
| Shop starts | 10:42am | 09:35m | 10:41am | 09:00am | 09:28am |
| Visit Duration | 01:32 | 01:23 | 01:09 | 01:22 | 01:03 |
| Shop Duration | 01:25 | 01:17 | 00:54 | 01:17 | 00:57 |
| Car Park (10) | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 |
| Signposting (up to 1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Queueing time to park (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Trolleys (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Queueing time from parking the car to enter the store (up to 3) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Feedback (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| The store is clearly signposted. You enter the car park here from a busy dual carriageway into a large retail park which has McDonalds and an Asda petrol station on the same side as the supermarket. There are traffic lights from the main road so I came in behind a steady stream of cars however I was able to enter the car park and find a space almost immediately. There were plenty of spaces available including parent and child and disabled. Trolleys were complementary and there were plenty available. There were sanitising stations situated both directly outside the store and inside the foyer. There was no queue at all to enter the store. Stickers were in place to signify social distancing and there was a clear one way system. Staff were not present when I entered the store however by the time I left there were two staff members situated at the store entrance. | There was no queue to enter the car park when we arrived. The car park was clean and free of litter. Trollies were neatly stacked in the trolley bays. At the entrance to the store there was no queue and there were no staff present. There were no barriers in place at the time we entered the store. At the entrance there were two hand sanitizer points and another just inside the foyer. They were marked ” think, clean, hygiene.” There was also a table with additional sanitiser available. | There were no trolleys outside the store, so I had to go back to the car park to find some. The early Christmas rush had clearly taken staff by surprise, but they were doing all they could. | I was able to drive straight into the car park (it was about 3 minutes to 9) and walk straight into the store. There were barriers but no queues. When I left the store there was an assistant on duty who directed me to leave in a certain direction and he was managing customers as they arrived, but there was still no queue. There were plenty of notices about 2 metre distancing and also stickers on the floor. | Not many people but staff were present. | |
| Store standards (20) | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 15 |
| First impression (up to 5) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Feedback | The store did appear calm and ordered and it wasn’t manically busy when I entered which was nice for a Saturday morning. One thing I did notice was the sheer amount of staff working in the store - there were literally hundreds working hard to restock the shelves. Some of the staff were in uniform; some were in Christmas jumpers. There was Christmas music playing. I didn’t hear any announcements during the course or my shop. | N/A | N/A | A very good first impression. The store was busy but not crowded and everyone was obviously making an effort to distance. There were a lot of staff about but also keeping their distance and trying to be friendly and helpful. | Announcements about face masks. Every person wore one. |
| Displays (up to 3) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Availability and replenishment (up to 5) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Feedback | As aforementioned there were plenty of staff to replenish the shelves. A lot of key Christmas products including the ones I was looking for were dual sited around the store both oh the shelves and on promotional gondola ends and merchandising units. Staff all managed to maintain social distancing. The bacon section was extremely well shopped and there was lots of empty boxes in this section otherwise stock availability was generally very good, even on promotions. | There were a number of aisles that had gaps on the shelves. The wine aisle had a number of products that were out of stock and there were also gaps on other wine items. However there was a member of staff checking stock. The cleaning products aisle had several areas where there were products missing. These included bleach, wipes and bin bags. There were boxes of bin bags left unattended next to the shelf. They were not blocking the aisle. There were unattended trollies containing cardboard seen in the biscuit aisle, tea and coffee aisle and chilled products aisle. When we came to leave the store these had been removed. | Small gaps here and there, but staff in most aisles trying to replenish as quickly as they could | I was not struck by prominent displays such as you find in larger stores, but there was an attractive Christmas display outside (photo provided) and a special display on the deli counter (photo provided). Christmas snacks and sweets were displayed on a back wall. No extra space was taken up by these displays (it is a small store) but they emphasised the seasonal spirit. I did not see many empty spaces in the food displays and staff were busy replenishing them, without blocking the aisles. | Staff present, only a few gaps in the aisles but plenty of items. |
| Obstructions (up to 3) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Spillages (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Condition of the store in terms of cleanliness (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Feedback | Store standards were very good. It was clean and tidy around store and I did not notice any leaks or spillages at all. There were a couple of instances where the trolley was getting in the way particularly when other customers and their abandoned trolleys were blocking the aisle but otherwise stars were considerate - one staff member noticed the trolley was restricting my access to the fresh herbs so they moved it immediately and apologised. The alcohol aisle had lots of boxes stacked in the aisle ready for restocking so it was a little hard manoeuvring round this section. There was a trolley in the coffee section causing obstruction but again this was amplified by other customers and their abandoned trolleys! | The store was well presented with no obvious maintence issues seen. Cardboard had been placed into trollies and there was no litter seen on the floor during our visit. | Store was tidy and aisles were clear mostly. However it was a staring to busy up as I progressed with my shopping. There was a lot of replenishing taking place. No replenishing trolleys in my way, however I did have to ‘give way’ a few times. | Everything in the store was clean and looked well cared for. | Very clean and calm. Displays kept neat. |
| Store layout (10) | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Did the store layout seem logical and intuitive? (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Was it easy to navigate the store while also feeling safe? (up to 6) | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Did the store offered any Click & Collect services? (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Shop Floor Service (20) | 20 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 19 |
| Product location (up to 5) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Staff politness/responsiveness (up to 5) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Feedback | Staff were all very friendly and polite and pointed me to the exact place on the shelf or took me physically to the location. A couple of staff members asked their colleagues to help if they could not pinpoint the actual location due to the product in question not being in their actual area. Shout outs to Emma on cheese, Demi on fish, Amie-Leigh on grocery and Alan in ambient who all helped me today. | A staff member called Paul was in the fruit and vegetable aisle and he was replenishing stock. We asked if they had any rosemary and he stopped what he was doing and accompanied us to the herbs. He could not see any on the shelf and said he would check out the back. When he returned he apologised and said there was none and a gap scan would have noted this was out of stock. He went on to say it could hopefully be in the next day. We asked several other staff members for assistance and they stopped what they were doing to assist us and accompany us to find the products. | Checkout operator very friendly. All staff I had to ask for assistance were very helpful. | I had difficulty finding quite a few products. As it is a small store, they do not carry as wide a range of brands as a superstore would. Every assistant I asked (about five in total) either checked availability on a hand-held device, or checked in the back, or took me to where the product should be. | Good but took 3 people to find the mince pies as they had recently moved. |
| Was it easy to find a member of staff (up to 3) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Were staff easy to identify through their uniform or name badges (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Staff presentation (up to 5) | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Feedback | N/A | Staff on the shop floor were polite and helpful when asked for assistance. All were wearing name badges and well presented in Morrisons uniform. Social distancing by some staff members was not being adhered to and stood next to us. | 0 | I have never met such helpful staff! All were friendly and chatty, all were wearing masks and gloves and seemed to enjoy their work and the contact with customers. They pointed out various options for products I was looking for and knew their stock well. | Mostly helpful, a lady said back of the store, didn’t take me there and it was incorrect. |
| Tills and checkouts (20) | 17 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 13 |
| How well managed were the queues leading up to the till-operated checkouts in terms of maintaining order and social distancing? (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| How well managed were the queues leading up to the self-service checkouts in terms of maintaining order and social distancing? (Please observe after you’ve completed your shop, and include observations around attentiveness to customers requiring help due to flashing lights/unattended items in bagging area) (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| How long did it take to queue (prior to scanning) (up to 4) | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Please rate checkout staff on their customer service and safety (up to 7) | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Time for G33 items to be scanned (including payment) (up to 3) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Was the till receipt free of mistakes? (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Feedback - please provide any further details/feedback on the tills and checkout: | There were 9 out of 10 main checkouts open as well as six scan and go and 20 self checkout including basket checkout. There were no staff marshalling customers proceeding to the checkout however there was no need to queue as although every checkout was busy it was generally only with one customer so you were pretty much guaranteed to not have to queue for very long. I queued for around seven minutes (the person in front of me had a huge shop and was chatting away to the staff member on the checkout). When it was my turn the staff member was friendly and efficient (it was a female with glasses - she was wearing a name badge but it was obscurred). They processed the transaction smoothly and handled my items with care. They said hello and goodbye and smiled throughout but didn’t ask if I needed bags or help with packing. | As we approached the check out areas there was no one advising customers where to wait for an available till. There were two customer in front of us, one being served at the till and the other putting food on the conveyor belt but no one was directing customers to keep their distance. Once at the till we were given a greeting but no conversation took place as our items were processed. | Very friendly, helpful and seemed genuinely interested as to how my shop had gone. | I have never met such helpful staff! All were friendly and chatty, all were wearing masks and gloves and seemed to enjoy their work and the contact with customers. They pointed out various options for products I was looking for and knew their stock well. | Only one till open to queue. Self scan was also being used. Very polite at till. |
| Availability score (20) | 17 | 17 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| Of the 33 items on your shopping list how many were: | |||||
| Available (up to 20) | 31 | 31 | 25 | 24 | 30 |
| Out of stock (-2 per item) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Not stocked (-1 per item) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Availability % | 96.9 | 96.9 | 83.3 | 100.0 | 90.9 |
| Please note down the items on your shopping list that were out of stock (please highlight the products that have managed to get a satisfactory substitutions) | The Guardium tablets were out of stock in both the size I was allocated and the larger pack size therefore I was not able to find a satisfactory substitute. | Rosemary substitured by coriander. | Own label premium prosecco out of stock. I subbed with own label Premium Rosé prosecco. Own label Premium smoked salmon was oos. Subbed with harbour smokehouse smoked salmon. Asparagus was oos. I did not get an alternative. White napkins were out of stock. I got own label pink ones instead. 200g Ferrero Rocher oos. I got larger box instead. |
N/A | Salmon, could not locate exact, substitute. Stuffing, original out of stock, substitute. Turkey, only medium, did ask and told thats all we have left. Substitute. |
| Please note down the items on your shopping list that were not stocked (please highlight the products that have managed to get a satisfactory substitutions) | The pickled walnuts were not stocked (according to the two staff members I spoke to and subsequently helped me to locate within the store prior to myself literally searching high and low all over the store for these). I could not think of a substitute as it is not normally a product I would buy. | Cauldron sausages substitued by Morrisons Lincolnshire sausages. | Own label trimmed brussel sprouts not stocked. I bought own label sprouts instead (not trimmed) Guardium acid reflux control 7s not stocked. I got Sainsbury’s own orange flavour acid control tablets instead. Strong roots oven baked sweet potato not stocked. I did not purchase an alternative. |
1) Heck sausages were not stocked so I took Tesco pork sausages instead. 2) Cauldron brand sausages were not stocked and I didn’t see anything in the vegetarian section that I wanted to buy instead 3) Lavazza coffee beans were not stocked. I took Lavazza ground coffee instead. 4) King Edward potatoes were not stocked. I took British all-rounders instead. 5) Bunched asparagus 6) Large frozen turkey crown not to be stocked until next week. I took a medium one. 7) Strong Roots sweet potato not stocked. I took own brand sweet potato fries instead. 8) Bisto onion gravy not stocked. I took Bisto vegetable gravy instead. 9) Tesco light soft cheese not stocked but Philadelphia was, but I took Tesco full fat. |
N/A |
| Please give any other details or info about your shopping trip, good or bad | The store was very easy to navigate and logical/intuitive and as aforementioned a lot of items were dual sited and you could find them in places where they would naturally complement other items - like gravy near frozen meat. On the subject of feeling safe I have to say I saw a considerable amount of customers who were not wearing masks. I am not sure how the store police this but I am certain due to the amount that not all would have had a valid reason to not be wearing one. It was just my observation on the masks and customers not wearing them. I have been to another Asda (Bradford) recently and again the percentage of customers not wearing masks seemed to be higher than in other supermarkets. |
The store was easy to naviate around with wide aisles but there was no one way system in operation. At times customers were not adhering to social distancing requirements. There were several members of staff seen picking items for customers for delivery or click and collect. The store was not that busy which made the visit a positive experience. It was easy to navigate around the store and Christmas items were well presented with eye catching displays. There was good overhead signage which made it easy to find products. Some signage on the shelves were linked to other products. On the shelf stocking mince pies a sign said “dont forget the cream.” This was a good prompt. |
Overall, the store looked good and there were plentiful staff to ask for help. It is worth noting that this is not a large store, so I am not surprised that some items were not stocked. I am familiar with this store and would always know that they are not able to carry the full range. | The store does not have very wide aisles but I felt all the staff and customers were making an effort and there were stickers and signs to remind us. I was surprised at the number of items not stocked, but given the small size of the store, they did usually have equivalents and probably reflected the habits of their usual customers. The cafeteria is cheerful and though it was empty when I arrived at 9am, by the time I left it had some customers. There was a nice bakery display as well. |
Good, relaxed store and not crowded. Easy parking in the multistorey attached to the store. |
| TOTAL SCORE (100) | 90 | 85 | 80 | 88 | 74 |
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