Our shoppers purchased a lunchbox-themed basket this week to mark the start of the school term – and Morrisons stood out for the best shopping experience.
The Tynemouth store scored 88 points overall, thanks to excellent service both on the shop floor and at the checkout.
The checkout assistant was “helpful and friendly”, and all the staff seemed happy.
“It’s not a store I usually use, but I would visit again based on what I saw,” said our shopper.
Much of the checkout space was dedicated to self-service checkouts, but this did not slow down the manned tills. Of the five open checkouts, none had accumulated queues.
Availability was also very good: only the kitchen foil was not stocked.
Second place went to Tesco in Exeter with 78 points. The store “appeared well stocked, clean and organised”.
“I had a pleasant experience even though the store was busy,” said our shopper.
The promotional and seasonal displays were described clean, tidy and appealing.
However, it was difficult to find some products as the in-aisle signs were a bit confusing and did not appear to follow an order. Staff were of mixed helpfulness – some checked for products on the Tesco app and helped our shopper find them, but others only indicated the number of the aisle.
Availability was a strong point. Our shopper was able to purchase all 33 items.
Next up was Sainsbury’s Chiswick in London with 66 points. It made a good first impression with a clean car park that was not too busy.
Inside, the store was clean and well organised with good stock levels.
Services were limited: our shopper noticed no click & collect, food to go or counters.
At the checkout, service was strong but the queues were lengthy, resulting in our shopper waiting eight to nine minutes to be served.
Finally, availability was fairly good. Only the ham was out of stock and the Kinder Bueno bars were not stocked.
Fourth-placed Asda Harpurhey scored 58 points. Our shopper was “fairly impressed with the promotional displays”, which included back to school products.
However, there was a small pile of litter and many gaps in the ambient section.
That was reflected in availability: two items were out of stock and four not stocked.
Last place went to Waitrose Bromsgrove with just 39 points.
The car park was poorly signposted and difficult to navigate.
Once inside, the store was a little congested, which led to our shopper banging into a sign advertising free coffee. The aisles were narrow, so our shopper was forced to park the trolley and come back for it.
Availability was very poor in the 17,700 sq ft store, with less than half the basket available. A total of 18 items were not stocked, and one item was not stocked. Our shopper noted lots of alternatives for the missing items, however.
Checkout service was also lacking. There was only one manned till open and our shopper had to wait two or three minutes to be served. There were plenty of staff available but none opened a second till when a queue formed at the only checkout.
The checkout assistant did not say hello and was “a bit miserable”. There also was a mistake on the receipt – the Duchy cucumber went through as an Essential cucumber. On the plus side, shop floor staff were well presented and helpful.
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