In this week’s Halloween-themed Grocer 33, Sainsbury’s was the only supermarket to stand out among a sea of average scores. With 71 points, the retailer’s Northfield, Birmingham branch was this week’s clear winner.
Our mystery shopper highlighted the cleanliness of the store, as well as the good atmosphere and polite staff. All colleagues went out of their way to help, including the store manager, who was also busy restocking shelves alongside the rest of the team.
The Halloween and Christmas displays looked attractive and were well stocked, while the fruit & veg section was neat and tidy. Overall, availability was good and the Doritos were the only out-of-stock item.
Runner-up Asda’s store in Barnet, London scored 57 points. While this spacious store was “very well laid out” and had some good displays on show, it struggled slightly with availability. Four of our visitor’s items were out of stock, including Halloween staples such as the spider web mesh and the witch hat.
Staff across the store were busy restocking shelves, but always helped our shopper when she needed it.
However, the restocking activity did cause some obstruction in the narrower aisles. Plus, she found the store entrance too cluttered, with the goods on display impeding customers walking in and out.
Still, the store provided a “good shopping experience” and our visitor said she would be happy to return.
Tesco’s High Wycombe branch landed third place with 53 points. This “old town centre store” failed to impress our shopper overall.
One of the main problems was that the travelator connecting the downstairs food area with the upper-floor clothing and homeware upstairs was not working. Our visitor was told by staff to leave her trolley downstairs and walk up the “steep” travelator. She said the store was clean but had no windows and an old feeling to it, which left her reluctant to come back. The car park was “horrid” and had “nothing nice about it”.
In total, eight of her required groceries were not stocked and one was out of stock. The redeeming factor of this branch was the helpful, knowledgeable and friendly team of staff.
Morrisons’ Whitley Bay branch trailed behind with a three-point gap. Our shopper said customer service at the store was “average”. Neither of the colleagues she approached made an effort to look for products.
The store layout was unhelpful – apart from the fresh food aisles – and our visitor also noted a slight leak by the chiller cabinets, which had a warning sign in place.
Four of her items were not stocked, and one was out of stock. Overall, our visitor was “left feeling quite disappointed and underwhelmed”.
Waitrose took the last spot this week with 49 points. The small Greenwich branch was rather busy during our shopper’s Sunday visit, making it hard to navigate with a trolley. Plus, its “eclectic” aisles did not seem intuitive.
The absence of “clear queueing etiquette” and the positioning of displays around the checkout area resulted in some confusion among shoppers and extra waiting time.
Our shopper pointed out “all items were available in own brand but not always branded”. In the end, she took home 26 items as two were out of stock and five were not stocked.
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