In a week defined by excellent service, Tesco came out ahead of its rivals with 88 points.
Tesco Callington was among the four stores to score perfect or almost perfect marks on shop floor service, while standing out from the pack on availability.
Only one item was out of stock and one was not stocked, while rivals struggled with stock levels this week.
Our shopper noted staff at the Tesco branch were smartly dressed and actively restocking shelves. When asked about an item, staff were “polite, stopped what they were doing and directed us to the location”.
The store also demonstrated excellent store standards, with “several Christmaspromotions that caught the eye”. Overall, it was “free of litter, bright and easy to navigate”.
Checkout experience was also strong with no queues. Our shopper was greeted by a “very friendly and helpful staff member” who completed the checkout process efficiently.
Runner-up store Waitrose Sunningdale was close behind with 83 points. The branch scored full marks for shop floor service, thanks to a helpful staff member taking our shopper to items on the list.
Waitrose also performed well on store standards. The branch was well stocked and “clean and tidy”, plus our shopper noted a “fresh and enticing” fruit and vegetables section.
There was also a large sushi counter, which was “well lit and looked good”, as well as a small bakery section – though this was not well stocked.
Availability was high at the store, with just one item on our list out of stock.
The only low point was checkout service. Only two trolley tills were open, resulting in a wait of four to five minutes to pay.
Asda Penny Lane in Wavertree scored 75 points. Staff were friendly and happy to help, as well as “very knowledgeable” about what was stocked. It was always easy to find staff, and it “felt like nothing was too much trouble for them”. Store standards were also praised as “excellent”.
Checkout experience was good, and our shopper was served straight away. The checkout operator was “friendly, smiled and said hello, and swiftly but carefully scanned the goods”.
However, 15 items were not stocked in the comparatively small Asda store. Although no items were out of stock, that led to a score of zero on availability.
Sainsbury’s Alton scored 67 points with excellent service and plenty of staff on the floor. Staff were happy to help and “personal presentation was excellent”. Staff helped our shopper look for items and offered suitable alternatives, as well as checking in the stockroom for missing items.
On the flip side, checkout experience wasn’t as strong as some of the other stores this week, with a short queue on all manned tills. Availability was low: three items were out of stock and three not stocked.
The exception to the excellent service standards this week was Morrisons Chester-le-Street, where staff were “smilingly polite” but “a degree of understaffing” meant it took some minutes for our shopper to track down a member of staff.
The checkouts similarly seemed to be understaffed, with our shopper having to wait four to five minutes, and queues of three or more customers at every till.
It earned zero points for availability, with four items out of stock and four not stocked.
This culminated in Morrisons coming in last place this week with 57 points.
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