Tesco Swansea was crowned Grocer 33 store of the week thanks to excellent store standards and customer service.
The store picked up an impressive 83 points, and earned particular praise from our shopper for its attractive Halloween and Diwali displays.
The store was easy to get around on our early Saturday morning visit and our shopper could find most items easily.
Availability was strong throughout the store, with almost no gaps on shelves. In fact, only two were noticed: one where the out-of-stock Cadbury hot chocolate should have been, and another where the Cravendale milk was missing. However, a friendly staff member was happy to retrieve the latter from the storeroom.
Our shopper left with 31 items, missing only the Cadbury hot chocolate and the scotch bonnet chillies.
Staff were another plus point. While most were concentrated around the fruit & veg section – fewer were available elsewhere – all proved very helpful and between them were able to deal with all her queries.
Finally, the checkout operator was also very efficient and friendly and “made me feel welcomed to the store”.
Morrisons in Bodmin was this week’s runner-up with 72 points. Again, Halloween was in full flight and our shopper loved the “attractively presented and eye-catching” display of pumpkins.
The store was clean and tidy and seemed to have strong standards throughout.
When staff members were asked for assistance, they were “only too happy to assist and were polite, engaging and willing to check the warehouse”.
The only negative for the store was a low availability score due to three out-of-stocks and three not-stocked items.
Waitrose in Longfield, Kent came third with 70 points. There were a staggering 12 out-of-stocks, which was the main issue on this shop.
Aside from that, the store was “clean, orderly and tidy”. Our shopper felt the layout was a little haphazard and she “had to walk around in circles quite a lot to navigate to what I needed”. Staff were excellent, however, and were happy to use their devices to try and locate products.
A further four points behind Waitrose was Sainsbury’s in Stockton-on-Tees. The store had this week’s second-best availability with 30 items our list: there were two out-of-stocks and one not-stocked item.
Our shopper felt the store “was visually impressive, both from the outside and within” and was particularly impressed by the “grand entrance with a modern, clean aesthetic”.
As he went around, restocking trolleys did block his path at times. The floor was clean with no litter, but he was concerned by drips coming from the fridge units in multiple aisles.
Staff were not the most welcoming and he felt he was interrupting their personal chats when he needed assistance.
In last place this week was Asda on Princess Road, Manchester with 51 points.
Standards were a little off inside and out. There was damage to one of the trolley bays in the car park. On the shop floor, there were unmanned restocking items causing obstructions and “many of the pumpkins on display were clearly past their best with white furry mould on top of them”.
Staff were reasonably helpful, but didn’t tend to go the extra mile by offering to investigate further.
Three items were out of stock and two not stocked.
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