Sainsbury's plastic

Sainsbury’s 80,000 sq ft hypermarket in Rugby took the store of the week award this week, but it was a tight race with just three points separating the top four.

Sainsbury’s posted a winning total of 76 as our shopper picked up 31 items and only failed to grab a full basket due to two non-stocked lines. She described the on-shelf availability as “excellent” despite the store being very busy.

There were plenty of helpful staff on hand as there was a lot of restocking going on, and they were being careful not to create any obstruction to shoppers. She also praised the “very friendly and unrushed” checkout assistant.

Like Sainsbury’s, Waitrose in Chesham was also two not-stocked lines away from a full basket. One member of staff was particularly helpful, but our shopper had to keep relying on her as there were not many other colleagues available. The store ended up two points behind Sainsbury’s on 74.

A further point back were Asda Newark and Morrisons in St Andrews. In terms of availability Asda had one out of stock and one not-stocked item, while Morrisons had two out of stocks and one not stocked.

Morrisons staff helped it score top marks for shop floor service, while Asda excelled at the tills which were “running smoothly and efficiently without queues”.

The outlier this week was Tesco Rutherglen. Two out of stocks and four not-stocked lines left it struggling for availability points. Staff did not go the extra mile to help find products, in some circumstances not even pointing to sections where products might be.