marks and spencer aisle shopper (5)

Newcastle upon Tyne

Population 813,868
Total annual grocery spend £1.95bn
Average weekly grocery and convenience spend per household (online and offline) £104.88

It’s debatable whether Newcastle prides itself most on its vociferous love of the local football team, its iconic contribution to UK food and drink – the famed Newcastle Brown Ale – or its proud shipbuilding and coal mining past. Either way, it has certainly diversified its economy in recent years, with strong tech, healthcare and financial sectors, while retail remains crucial with the Metrocentre (in nearby Gateshead) and Eldon Square key shopping destinations.

Two universities contribute to the city’s youthful energy, while a lower cost of living compared to many other major UK cities makes it a popular place for families. According to CACI, though, under-indexing in certain demographic groups demonstrates that “Newcastle’s profile is less aligned with affluent, transient, or wealthier urban lifestyles and more grounded in stable suburban households and financially constrained communities”.


That might go some way to explaining the struggles of Waitrose in the city’s Eldon Square shopping centre, which closed in 2022 having “found trade challenging for some time”. Interestingly, though, that doesn’t appear to be the case for M&S in Northumberland Street, located just a four-minute walk away, also in the city centre, which replaced Waitrose in this week’s mystery shop.

That 25,000 sq ft M&S romped to victory with an exceptional 91 points – including the week’s best performance on availability despite being comfortably the smallest store included (it was less than a quarter of the size of this week’s enormous Tesco). It racked up near-perfect scores in virtually every category and would have scored even higher had it not lost points and been hamstrung by its city centre location meaning it lacks its own car park, making access “not easy” with a car.

marks and spencer aisle shopper (2)

Elsewhere, our shopper praised the “excellent standards of customer service… it truly was fantastic”. He also felt the store was “impeccably presented” with all displays “very neat and tidy with no noticeable gaps in any department”. It was also “easy to navigate” with “no obstructions” and a food to go section that was “particularly well presented”.

Leaving Newcastle’s vibrant city centre behind, Sainsbury’s in Etherstone Avenue is about 2.5 miles to the northeast in the stylish, leafy suburb of Jesmond. The 59,504 sq ft store took second place with 82, thanks to another impressive display on availability, with just one item out of stock.

Our shopper loved her interactions with staff members, who were “incredibly helpful, friendly and attentive”. However, the “worst thing” about her visit was “how difficult it was to actually find a staff member to speak to – I waited over 10 minutes to find any colleague on the shop floor”.

Elsewhere, first impressions of the store were “excellent” with the foyer area and displays “very well presented”, although there were “notable gaps” in the fruit and veg department and “some boxes strewn across the tinned soup aisle”.

Next came Tesco on Brunton Lane, which missed out on second by just three points and would have claimed it with a better performance on availability. The store had two items out of stock and one not stocked, despite coming in at over 100,000 sq ft.

First impressions were “strong”, partly thanks to a staff member greeting customers in the foyer. The store was also “generally well laid out” although “some narrow aisles and the occasional unmanned cage caused minor obstructions”.

Our shopper was also pleased to see “multiple staff members” on the shop floor, all of whom were “very attentive, caring… and ensured I was satisfied before returning to their duties”.

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Six miles north of the city, in the Killingworth Shopping Centre, Morrisons claimed fourth with 77 points. Again, it could easily have been second with a better performance on availability. Our shopper loved “how I was made to feel by each store colleague – like a very valued customer”. In addition, the “presentation” was “very good” and there were “no obstructions at all in any department”.

On the other hand, she noted “a lot of litter and debris across several parts of the car park”, which “did not create a great first impression”.

Ten points back in last place, it was not a starry showing from Asda on Hollywood Avenue, which picked up 67 points and the week’s worst performance on availability. The store “does feel a little dated” and is “fairly dark in some areas”. Furthermore, our shopper spotted “some areas that were not at the standard I would have expected”. There were shelf-edge labels missing, multiple gaps across the store including in confectionery, chillers and freezers, as well as numerous “examples of litter strewn on the floor”.

However, she did add that the store was “easy to navigate” and the “service from the colleagues I engaged with was very good”.

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Shopper profiling is measured using Grocery Acorn shopper segmentation.

Store catchment data (market share, population, expenditure, spend by household, competition) is within a five-mile radius.

For more info visit  www.caci.co.uk/datasets/grocery-footprint