Waitrose won the first Grocer 33 of 2022 by a landslide after its well-stocked and clean Yateley branch racked up 81 points in this Sunday morning shop.
Our mystery shopper visited the small yet easy-to-navigate store on 2 January, and all the seasonal displays had already been taken down, giving it a bright and spacious feel.
Shelves were neat and mostly full. In fact, the only out of stock item was the Richmond meat-free sausages (an issue for all supermarkets except Asda), while three others were not stocked. The food counters were also well stocked, aside from the fish one.
Although busy restocking, staff were easy to find and helpful. The till assistant was polite and efficient and provided a smooth checkout experience. All in all, this store felt “well managed”.
Sainsbury’s in Washington, Co Durham, came second with 65 points. The store was clean, tidy and spacious, with an easy-to-follow layout.
The shop floor staff were also a highlight of the trip – prompt, cheerful, well dressed and respectful of Covid measures. But there appeared to be some degree of understaffing, and stock levels were patchy, particularly in fruit & veg, with three out of stocks.
Our visitor also did not find the end of aisle displays, nor the beer display by the entrance, particularly enticing.
Morrisons’ Totnes branch lagged behind with 53 points. Our visitor said the store was bright and spacious with a welcoming entrance, and felt overall standards were good. Both members of staff she spoke to were “very helpful”.
However, our shopper noticed some restocking trolleys that were causing an obstruction to customers, and said the store was “let down” by the average food to go section. Stock availability was also hit and miss, as she went home with only 27 items – three were out of stock and three were not stocked.
It was a close call between Tesco and Asda for last place this week – the former’s Newcastle-under-Lyme branch scored 48 points, while the latter’s Hulme Superstore in Manchester was a point behind.
Tesco was described by our shopper as “scruffy” and in need of refurbishment, which was particularly noticeable thanks to a “brand new shiny” Aldi across the road.
Shelves were messy, with lots of empty boxes and misplaced stock. There were plenty of staff around, but not a lot of restocking or tidying activity.
The floor in front of the chilled cabinet for salads was covered in wet blue paper due to a leak, but our visitor did not see anyone actively tending to it. She was also underwhelmed by the aisle signage.
On the plus side, staff were all friendly, polite and very helpful, and the quality of the fruit & veg section was “quite high”. All in all, she shopped 30 items.
Asda, on the other hand, was generally clean and tidy – but it struggled with availability. Our shopper was told deliveries had been “very limited” over the holidays. He bought 25 items as six were out of stock, and two were not stocked.
During his Sunday morning shop, both the food to go and fruit & veg sections were already presenting a few visible gaps. However, the promotional sections caught his eye – they were well stocked and included bedding and homeware items, as well as a number of Christmas clearance lines.
Staff were reasonably helpful but often difficult to locate. The checkout experience was quick as there were no queues.
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