Sainsbury’s giant Lincoln superstore was this week’s winner, thanks to a solid performance across every metric, including strong shop floor service and checkout (the till assistant was “patient and friendly”) and decent availability (only one of our items was out of stock and two were not stocked).
Our mystery shopper was impressed by the Eastereggs display, as well as by the well stocked and tidy ‘Garden Shop’ aisle. He also enjoyed the offering across the Habitat aisles.
However, some areas of the store were more depleted during his Friday evening shop. The lack of fruit & veg was “slightly disappointing”, and the same went for bakery and the pasta aisle. Only one member of staff was restocking the fresh area.
Waitrose was four points behind Sainsbury’s. Its Alton branch fared better than all rivals in terms of shop floor service and store standards, but it scored poorly for availability score. Our shopper only bought 26 items, with three out of stock and four not stocked.
On the upside, there was a lot of replenishing going on during her visit, particularly in fruit & veg, dairy and bakery. Staff were carefully restocking and were not obstructive.
The store itself was extremely clean and tidy – even from the outside, with freshly painted walls and clear, helpful signage – and gave off a relaxing feeling. Seasonal displays were eye catching, and the end-of-aisle displays featured “good and clearly labelled” promotions.
Tesco’s Kensington & Chelsea branch took third place with 66 points. Our shopper said the store looked good, with neat displays and attractive end-of-aisle Clubcard promotions.
The store was “incredibly well stocked”, with only one of our items out of stock. The layout was easy and logical, and the aisles were wide and litter-free, with no visible spills or broken fixtures.
However, she marked down the store standards as there was a “very bad smell of sewage” on entering, which carried into the first few aisles of the store and made it “impossible” to browse the meat aisle. While there was no clear explanation, the café at the entrance was closed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.
Additionally, shop floor service was mediocre – there were hardly any staff available, and the ones our shopper approached were not particularly knowledgeable of items outside their allocated sections.
Fourth-placed Morrisons Byker followed closely behind. According to our shopper, the highlight of this store was the quality of the customer service – staff were polite, friendly and able to point her towards required products. On the other hand, there weren’t many staff available, which resulted in a few unmanned restocking trolleys causing obstruction.
Stock levels were good and the offer was varied. Our shopper ended up buying 30 items as three were out of stock. She noted the layout was slightly confusing at times, with dairy near the end of the store rather than next to meat. Still, she described it as a “good shop”.
Asda in Spennymoor came last this week after struggling with heavy footfall and low stock levels. Because the store was so busy on Friday evening, our shopper found parking “rather fraught”.
Despite the chaotic nature of the situation, our visitor still managed to buy 31 of our items. Plus, she pointed out the shop floor remained “exceptionally clean” and tidy, and that no restocking trolleys were left unattended.
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