Just five points covered this week’s top four retailers in terms of service and availability – though none were outstanding.
Morrisons Chester claimed the victory with a relatively low winning score of 69.
Our shopper’s visit started well: she praised the well-presented car park with wide spaces. Trolleys had been tidied away well, including a number of loose trolleys neatly stacked for shoppers who did not have the required £1 coin to release a chained-up one.
The fruit & veg section was well stocked except for the carrots on our list, which had an out-of-stock sign displayed on the shelf-edge.
This, in addition to three not-stocked lines, meant our shopper went home with 29 items.
Overall the shop was easy to navigate and the signage helpful. Our shopper’s experiences with staff ranged from very positive to disappointing, however.
The checkout operator was excellent, but one staff member who seemed happy to investigate the missing carrots did not come back to our shopper, who had to ask another team member. This person was friendly and tried to find out when the next delivery would be.
Asda’s Bedhampton store in Havant missed out on the win by a single point.
The car park had lots of trolleys strewn around and there were noticeable amounts of litter. However, inside the store was clean and inviting. Staff were busy restocking shelves and mostly kept out of the way of shoppers.
Staff were all well-presented but none went out of their way to search for missing items. The cashier on the tills was chatty and our shopper took 31 items home due to two out-of-stocks.
Third-placed Waitrose in Wokingham took third spot with 65 points.
Our shopper found the car park lacked sufficient signage. In contrast, the store was “brightly lit and well signposted”, with wide aisles. The fruit & veg section was well stocked, with just one gap where the avocados should have been. As she was leaving, our shopper noted this area had been fully replenished.
In terms of our list, there were two out-of-stocks and one not-stocked item.
Staff were friendly and helpful – two went out of their way to track down an item, using their handheld tablets and checking in the storeroom.
Just one point further back again was Tesco’s Southwark store. Availability was an issue, with two out-of-stocks and three not-stocked items.
There were quite a few empty crates in the fruit & veg section with out-of-stock labels. Our shopper was unimpressed by a large promotional display under a seasonal banner that “on closer inspection contained only cleaning products”.
He spoke to two members of staff regarding missing items on his shopping list and both used their devices to search for them. They “were both patient, friendly and professional”. Indeed, these interactions and the checkout process were the highlights of his visit.
The major surprise at Sainsbury’s in Wigston, Leicester was the lack of range. There were zero out-of-stocks but 16 items were not stocked. Some of this was down to pack sizes or specifications such as organic or “extra-large” eggs.
Overall the store scored just 44 points. Staff interactions were disappointing, with just one of five colleagues checking the storeroom for a missing item. There was also a long wait at the tills as not enough checkouts were open.
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