Tesco’s Banbury branch excelled in customer service and availability, to scoop this week’s Top Store award.

There were lots of staff available around the tidy store who proved most helpful, walking our customer to the items she needed. She also noted the large amount of promotions dotted around the store, on school uniforms in particular. Four extra tills were opened in a short period of time to account for a sudden influx of customers.

Although Asda in Gloucester provided a tidy store, cleaners with their trolleys cluttered the aisles. The checkout assistant was polite, but it took her 10 minutes to scan the items and she began scanning the next customer’s items before our shopper had finished packing.

Morrisons in Todmorden was well presented but there were lots of gaps in the fresh produce section. One staff member said he could not help because our customer’s query was not to do with his section. Well-stocked aisles with plenty of choice impressed our customer who visited Sainsbury’s in Maidenhead, as well as the wide range of bogof and half-price offers. However a lemon was mistaken for a lime on the receipt and a freezer was broken so stock was limited.

Waitrose in Salisbury provided a pleasant shop, staff were cheerful, greeting our customer, and there were plenty of open tills. But it was let down by poor availability.