Iceland narrowly missed first place in its previous appearance in the G33 but tops the table this week with an impressive 81 at its Co Durham store. The store was immaculately clean and tidy, staff were easy to find and went out of their way to help. When the apple juice couldn’t be located James retrieved it from the back. He opened another till when there was a queue at the checkout and offered to help pack.

At Asda Basildon stock levels impressed as staff worked hard to ensure shelves were full. Some aisles were “badly planned” with some back to back with similar products rather than flowing across to the aisle the other side of the main walkway. Staff were “excellent” but a long queue hit at the checkout score.

Availability was also good at Tesco Poole Fleets Corner, which had just one out of stock. An employee in the central aisle was holding a sign saying ‘can I help you?’ which our shopper felt was a good idea. Promotions tended to “blend into the background” and numerous back-tracking had to be done due to a the layout was confusing.

There was a bit of litter spotted in the fruit & veg section at Waitrose, Sudbury, and the layout was “disjointed” with homeware and clothing in the middle of the store between crisps/snacks and household/bakery products. Staff wasn’t up to scratch and they didn’t bother to check for products that couldn’t be found.

The entry to Morrisons Gosport was cluttered with chocolate tubs. An unmanned trolley in the fresh aisle caused an obstruction. Staff didn’t double check for items out the back. The checkout assistant was friendly, though her handling was a little rough.

Sainsbury’s Richmond came last, with the lowest store layout score and disappointing availability. The store was clean and tidy but stocks were low and freezers seemed broken as there weren’t any lights on. The store is now closed pending refurbishment.

Topics