With a score of 71 points, Morrisons’ East Kilbride store stood out in an otherwise disappointing week.
The retailer picked up its second store of the week award of the current Grocer 33 year with a branch that made a good impression from start to finish.
Our shopper was impressed by the good-sized and well-signed car park, as well as the attractive garden area outside the store. Inside, she enjoyed the eye-catching Halloween displays. The store was well laid out, with wide enough aisles for shoppers to easily pass each other and look for products. The wide selection of counters also impressed our shopper.
The only real issue was availability. There were three out-of-stock items and the peaches had been missing for a “good few days”, according to one member of staff. However, the store was well-stocked overall, despite some noticeable gaps. Staff were all well-presented, friendly and happy to help, while shelf replenishment seemed efficient. The checkout operator took care to scan heavier items first so as not to squash the lighter ones.
Tesco in Rugeley was this week’s runner-up, four points behind Morrisons. It had slightly better availability, with two out-of-stocks. Here too, the peaches were missing, while the lardons had been out of stock “for a while”.
Generally, however, the store was well-stocked. While there was obvious restocking taking place, staff were careful not to obstruct customers.
The store was tidy and easy to navigate. Staff were also friendly, but they did not make any extra effort to find out about the missing items. At the checkout, the operator was pleasant.
Third place went to Sainsbury’s Livingston with 56. Here, as with all stores this week, availability was a problem: there were three out-of-stocks. The store seemed clean and well managed, and our shopper had no trouble with navigation. Staff were friendly and efficient at either finding the missing product, or finding out it was not in stock.
The second problem came at the tills. There were just two manned checkouts open, both with queues of people with “very full trolleys”.
Our shopper felt forced to choose the self-checkouts, despite not being a fan.
At Waitrose in Chandler’s Ford, seven out-of-stocks meant our shopper took only 26 items home. This wasn’t the only issue, however, as the store managed just 43 points.
The car park was busy, with queues forming and limited spaces. Inside, the store was messy and chaotic. Shoppers were crowding around a large area of discounted goods right by the entrance, causing a blockage.
A hot drink sampling station in the same area added to the throng. Staff seemed stressed and pointed to an aisle rather than showing our shopper to an item. Overall, our shopper felt the store did not have enough staff on duty.
The checkout was the highlight, however: tills were open and there were no queues.
Asda in Redditch fared even worse with just 39 points. Standards were poor with “litter in every aisle” and “at least one unattended cage for every aisle, containing either waste cardboard or stock”. One aisle had as many as three restocking cages. There were also “lots of unattended spillages”.
Staff were sometimes hard to identify as many were not in uniform and while they tried to be helpful, some lacked knowledge. One member, when asked about the pak choi, sent our shopper to the toy aisle.
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