Tesco christmas seasonal aisle

Tesco picked up its first mystery shopping survey win since the beginning of October in a low-scoring week across the board.

Its Gorton store in Manchester bagged 67 points, helped by availability. It was the only store that did not have any out-of-stocks. However, there were five not-stocked items – which was surprising given the Extra format is over 50,000 sq ft.

At a busy time for the store, our shopper was impressed by a bright Christmas-themed balloon arch leading to an attractive festive aisle. The store was also easy to navigate, and was only hampered by staff picking orders for home delivery.

Staff were reasonably helpful, but for the most part did not go the extra mile to search for missing items.

Our shopper’s visit ended well with a pleasant experience at the checkout.

Just behind Tesco was Waitrose in Fleet with 64 points. Shelves were well stocked, apart from the Christmas display in the entrance, which was half-empty. There were also three out-of-stocks and one not-stocked item. Our shopper spotted a number of restocking trolleys in aisles but these did not cause any obstructions.

A set of steps seemed to have been abandoned, which our shopper had to move to access the marzipan. Otherwise, the store was clean, tidy and mostly logically laid out. Staff were well presented and helpful, and “they didn’t make you feel like you were putting them out”. They either knew whether a product was available or not, or worked to check availability.

During her visit, our shopper noticed a long queue at the tills –  which she attributed to a lack of open manned checkouts. However, when she came to check out, the queues had subsided. The assistant who served our shopper was also friendly and polite.

Asda in Chatham took third place with just 54 points. The store was generally clean and tidy. Our shopper spotted one leak in the freezer area but it was signposted and attended to.

Our shopper felt the store layout was quite haphazard, however. “The signage at the top of the aisles helped but I still found myself walking round in circles,” she reported.

Staff were hard to find, while queue management at the tills was poor – perhaps because not enough manned checkouts were open. Our shopper waited more than seven minutes. There were two out-of-stocks and four not-stocked items.

A point further back was Morrisons on Riverford Road in Glasgow, with 53. Our shopper felt “store standards were disappointing”, with a depleted fruit & veg section and three large spillages, one of which was hastily covered with cardboard without any warning signs.

As she passed through the store, “a single staff member was restocking various aisles using a large trolley, which frequently obstructed customers”. Staff were helpful and friendly but appeared short-handed.

In terms of availability, our shopper picked up 31 items with two out-of-stocks.

Bottom of the pack this week was Sainsbury’s in Bridgend on 47 points. Our shopper felt the foyer was underwhelming with a “very sad Christmas tree” and a completely empty promotional display for a Taste the Difference rum liqueur. “There was nothing at the front of the store that looked either festive or welcoming,” she said.

Our shopper took home 31 items, with two out-of-stocks, but she felt the store was messy and had too many empty shelves. When she needed help, staff were also difficult to find.