Shoppers would welcome an increased grocery offer at high street variety discounter Wilkinson, new research has revealed.

Him!'s Variety Discounter Tracking Programme, which quizzed 1,000 Wilkinson and Poundland shoppers at 70 stores, found 32% of Wilkinson shoppers bought just 1%-10% of their households' weekly groceries from the retailer.

However, 23% of shoppers said they would buy more of their weekly grocery shop from Wilkinson if it offered a wider range of products and a further 20% said they would use it for their weekly shop if it stocked more brands, was in a more convenient location and had better parking facilities.

The retailer has been steadily increasing its grocery offer since introducing food and drink into stores in April 2006. Its CEO Stuart Mitchell is a former MD of Sainsbury's.

The survey also found Wilkinson punches above its weight for customer satisfaction against other variety discounters. It scored above the industry average on 10 out of 10, or outstanding ratings, for store appearance, ease of finding products, quality of products, availability, range, speed of service and staff friendliness. And half of shoppers (50%) said they would recommend Wilkinson to a friend up from 38% the year before.

Crucially, the survey also found more shoppers were buying products in-store. Some 20% said they were visiting the store to browse, against an industry average of 22%, and 25% at Poundland. Thirty six per cent of shoppers quizzed said they were visiting the store to buy top-up items.