Sainsbury’s romped to victory in this week’s mystery shop – its first win since early October. Its branch in Wilmslow Road, Manchester, scored 77 points to comfortably see off its underwhelming competitors.
Sainsbury’s was one of just two stores (along with Asda) with no out-of-stocks, and it scored particularly well on store layout and store standards. Our shopper said the store was well laid out and it was “fairly easy” to find the items on his list, though there was a little congestion around the checkouts.
Despite shopping in mid-January, there were already Easter promotions on the shelves, which were mostly well stocked. Aisles were also generally free from obstruction and staff were helpful – if not particularly smiley. One of them checked for crumpets on the shelf and, when none were available, retrieved a pack from the warehouse.
In second place, but 20 points behind our winner, was Waitrose in Sunningdale. This store really took a hit due to availability, with three out-of-stocks and three not-stocked items, though it matched Sainsbury’s on shop floor service and tills & checkouts.
Staff were polite and friendly and “a fair few” of them were stocking shelves, which meant it never took long to get help with finding products. Despite their number, they were good at not getting in the way.
On the downside, the store layout was “unusual”, claimed our shopper. In quite a small store, the chilled food was too spread out, with some running along the back of the store and some of it down aisles opposite frozen and/or dried goods.
Next came Asda in Slough, which scored 55 points. It was the only store to rack up full marks for availability, with zero out-of-stocks or non-stocked items. Unfortunately it could not reach such dizzy heights in other areas.
Our shopper bemoaned numerous elements that showed “a lack of attention to detail” – including planograms left out on shelves and a yellow triangle in an aisle “for no apparent reason”.
The decision to make clothing the first shopping opportunity in store made for a “drab and unexciting first impression” and left our shopper unsure which way to go to start her shop.
Morrisons in Reading recorded a disappointing 47 points, struggling on availability with three out-of-stocks. One bright spot was on tills and checkouts, where the wait was just two to three minutes and the staff member was efficient and friendly.
In terms of staff, our shopper reported it being mostly click & collect pickers on the floor. They repeatedly left their carts in the middle of aisles and were “mostly unwilling to help and dismissive” – apart from one, Wayne, who was helpful.
Staff were not on top form on the butcher counter either, where staff were standing at the back while chatting and packaging meat. Our shopper’s question received a curt “no”, before the staff got back to their chat.
Last place went to Tesco in Stoke-on-Trent, with 41 points. The store had three out-of-stocks and two not-stocked items. One thing it had in abundance, though, was Easter eggs, much to the chagrin of our shopper who insisted: “It’s January – I do not wish to be faced with a wall of Easter eggs yet. But there they were – hundreds of them!”
All in all, our shopper felt the store was “a mess”, with similar items not displayed together, a lack of choice and few sections in need of “a tidy up”.
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