Morrisons has won its first Grocer 33 store of the week award in over two months after its Dalton Park branch in Seaham delighted our mystery shopper. The store’s appearance and cleanliness were “exemplary”, there were well presented displays of seasonal goods throughout, and very few gaps on shelves – in fact, this branch won top marks for availability as only one item was out of stock.
Shop floor service was excellent and staff appeared to be “content at work”. The fresh food counters were well stocked and “tempting”, and the food to go area was similarly enticing. The store layout was easy, making this a quick shop (just over 45 minutes). The household aisles were, unusually, in the middle of the store.
Tesco gave Morrisons a run for its money this week. Its Hermiston Gait, Edinburgh store was “very well presented” and logically laid out, our shopper said. The seasonal displays felt relevant and featured enticing promotions, though one item was out of stock and two were not stocked.
Both shop floor service and checkout received full marks – staff were all well presented, pleasant and helpful.
Even though the store was busy during the Saturday morning visit, this ended up being a “much easier” than expected shopping trip.
Third-placed Waitrose Christchurch was best in terms of availability – our visitor was able to buy all 33 items. Fruit & veg was well stocked. There was lots of restocking going on, but none caused obstruction as aisles were wide.
Shop floor service and checkout also scored highly as staff were all helpful. Our shopper also noted quite a lot of promotions, as well as reduced items, which she thought was “a good thing these days”. The value-tier Essentials range was also well stocked.
However, this older branch had a “tired” look to it and looked like it needed a makeover. The car park too needed to be “smartened up”.
Sainsbury’s Sleaford branch took fourth place. This store was small but gave the impression of being organised and clean. Its size also made it easy to navigate.
Overall the shelves were well stocked and tidy, but three of our items were out of stock. Our shopper did however point out that there were also Argos and Habitat products available, as well as a small clothing aisle and a book section.
Staff were limited so she ended up asking the same person for assistance several times: they were consistently helpful.
However, our shopper did go through a stressful experience as she did not notice the signs flagging that parking had to be paid and only found out at the till. She did not get a ticket but said the signage could have been better.
Asda took the bottom spot this week. Our shopper said the highlight of the visit to the Sutton Coldfield branch was the shop floor staff – every single colleague they spoke to was “delightful, friendly and happy to help”. The checkout area was busy but staff were good at queue management.
On the other hand, store layout was slightly mediocre – the fruit & veg section was separated into several areas, making it harder to find some items. Store signage was also hard to see. Store standards were average, with one aisle partially congested due to an unattended trolley.
In the end, our visitor bought only 29 items as one was out of stock and three were not stocked.
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