Best online mystery shop in Manchester goes to Ocado

One of the UK’s liveliest, most creative, but down-to-earth cities, Manchester is in the midst of sweeping change while attempting to honour its industrial roots. New neighbourhoods are, literally, on the rise. New Jackson is located at the city centre’s southern gateway and has been nicknamed “Manc-hattan” thanks to its gleaming skyscrapers and residential towers. And as the city becomes more modern and cosmopolitan, it’s attracting more and more investment, jobs and people.

“Shaped by youthful energy, cultural diversity and a strong presence of lower‑income urban renters”, according to CACI, two of the most over-represented demographic groups are Urban Diversity, which “reflects young families and students in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods”, but also Cash-Strapped Families, illustrating the city’s “concentration of younger families and single parents in rented terraces, often managing low incomes”.

As with most UK cities, then, Manchester is a place of contrasts. Its size and status also mean it’s well served by all seven retailers – including guests Ocado and Amazon – in our special online shop this week. And it was Ocado that emerged victorious edging out Waitrose by just one point.

The winning score of 84 was anchored in a solid performance on availability, with just one item unavailable and one substitute. Our shopper found navigation “very straightforward” and liked that “even though I misspelled something, it still found it”. She was particularly pleased with the driver, who was “lovely” and “took care when passing me my bags”. All the products were “in good condition and separated appropriately”, with “good sell by dates on them”. Our shopper also noted how well she was kept informed about the delivery and said she would shop with Ocado again if not for the £7 delivery fee, which “would put me off”.

Second place went to Waitrose on 83 points, which had just one item unavailable. Our shopper said the driver had a “pleasant and helpful demeanour”, offered to bring the crates into the kitchen and helped unpack them onto the counter. She also enjoyed the “bright” website with “good photos illustrating the special offers” but found it “hard to find certain items” – a search for “Hovis wholemeal”, for example, saw “all kinds of bread pop up, not just Hovis”.

Morrisons took third place with 77 points and posted the week’s only perfect score on availability. Our shopper described the site as “adequate”, which made for an efficient shop with no technical issues, although the search function “could be better”. When the delivery arrived, there was “some organisation” to the bag packing, though that “didn’t go as far packing all the chilled drinks or vegetables together”. Our shopper was also perturbed to find they couldn’t use an old Morrisons More card and was left unsure if they would receive their points.

Fourth place went to Asda with 75. Our shopper found the site “easy to use” and said the predictive search “worked really well…even when misspelling an item”. Unfortunately, though, “no helpful alternatives” were offered for the two items that were unavailable. Our shopper had not used online shopping “for a long time” as she “found the substitutions silly or the items not as fresh as I would have picked myself”. However, she “was really impressed with the shop and the quality and shelf life of the items; it’s made me consider shopping online with Asda again”.

Next came Sainsbury’s on 69. Our shopper had never ordered online through Sainsbury’s before, and “based on this experience I definitely would not do so again”. While the website and online shopping experience was “fine and in line with the majority of online supermarkets”, the “service and delivery” and “care and attention to products and goods” were “poor”. Our shopper prefers Ocado, saying the main point of difference is “the service from Ocado drivers”. They are “pleasant, happy and always chatty. They always explain things and help with the shopping when needed. It makes a huge difference.”

One point further back in sixth place was Amazon, which posted the week’s worst availability score, thanks to three items being unavailable. The search was “very efficient” and the app “excellent for keeping me updated and tracking my delivery”. However, our shopper lives in an apartment and “disliked the lack of professionalism from the courier and that I was asked to meet him by his car” outside, despite having provided Amazon with the necessary entry details. Our shopper felt he “might as well have done the shopping myself” and “it’s notable that this hadn’t been necessary with any of the competitors I’d used”.

Sixteen points back in last place, Tesco’s website had “a clinical and dated appearance”, according to our shopper, who felt it “badly needs updating”. Navigation was “good”, though the lack of a help feature was “frustrating”, and our shopper needed to “look hard to find alternative delivery slots”. Just as frustrating was the payment process, because after clicking to pay, “five times I was taken to being offered extra items or multibuys”. On the brighter side, the driver was “pleasant and polite”, he held the crate for our shopper while she unpacked and “we checked the condition of all the items together”.