Seven of the items in our shopping basket were out of stock at Waitrose’s Sidmouth branch for this Sunday morning shop, yet it outscored its rivals by such a large margin across the other categories that it won store of the week nonetheless.
Our mystery shopper gave its “well kept” and clean car park top marks. Once in the store, the attractive Easter and flower displays immediately caught her eye. The displays throughout were “tempting” and our shopper said it was “good to see a range of price options available for differing budgets”.
Our visitor also felt the store layout and standards were excellent, with wide aisles and neat shelves. Customer service was also top notch, with plenty of staff available, all of whom were glad to help shoppers.
There were some restocking trolleys but they did not get in the way. And despite zero points for availability, our shopper noted there were alternatives available, meaning this “enjoyable” branch lost just two other points.
Tesco’s Bentrim Road, Lisburn branch followed closely on 75. It had the best availability score this week, with one item out of stock and one not stocked. Our shopper found shelves well stocked and the layout was good.
She noted the branch made good use of the promotional aisles to highlight products.
Tesco also scored top marks for service, as staff were “very helpful and polite”. Checkout assistants were “friendly”.
A spillage on the floor from a customer dropping a glass sauce bottle was attended to and cleaned up within minutes.
Sainsbury’s Moortown Superstore in Leeds received mixed feedback. The sushi section looked “excellent” with a large variety of options, and the hot meat section had plenty of toasties and pasties on offer. Customer service was also good: staff were smiley, chatty and helpful.
However, the overall experience was brought down by a very littered car park and a number of restocking trolleys blocking the aisles.
Plus, there were quite a few gaps on the shelves and three of our chosen groceries were out of stock.
A one-point gap separated Sainsbury’s from fourth-placed Asda. Its branch in Chatham made it easy for our shopper to find products. The store was also “relatively clean and tidy”, and scored well for shop floor service and checkout.
But it struggled with availability. Six items were out of stock and our shopper said shelves were frequently empty, even though her shop took place early in the morning.
Despite good service overall, one staff member did not know where to find puff pastry, which was “frustrating”.
But this week’s clear loser was Morrisons with only 50 points. Its Newcastle-under-Lyme store failed to impress our visitor from the get-go, appearing not “very well managed” when she entered, with no sanitising station available.
Low stock levels were apparent and no staff could be seen replenishing shelves. Our shopper took home 29 items as four were out of stock.
Our visitor noted a negative interaction with a staff member who proved unhelpful in locating a shallow trolley. Our shopper also found staff were “untidy” and not easily identifiable.
In the store’s favour, it was clean and its layout was spacious and logical. The food to go section was a highlight, but overall the store made for “an average shop”.
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