What a difference a week makes. Last time out, Morrisons mustered just 21 points with its Sutton high street store, while this time it has claimed the store of the week title.
Morrisons Aldershot racked up a winning score of 79 thanks to a combination of excellent availability, store standards and, for the most part, great service. Our shopper took 32 items home and was only prevented from picking up the full list because the store did not stock the button mushrooms.
Overall she was impressed by the “positive experience” of the store, which felt “spacious, clean and well stocked”.
Our shopper initially had trouble finding staff, but when she did find them, staff were “friendly and polite” and on a couple of occasions accompanied her to the relevant shelf to help her look for an item.
There was a tie between Waitrose in Market Harborough and Aldi in Alton for the second spot this week, with a score of 69 points.
The “bright and airy” Aldi was very well stocked. Although some restocking was taking place, there were no obstructions in the aisles and lots of staff were tidying the shelves.
The store was also praised for being well laid out and intuitive to shop. When help was needed, staff were helpful and took plenty of time to deal with our shopper’s requests.
On availability, two items on our list were out of stock while three were not stocked.
It was a similar tale at Waitrose. Our shopper bagged 27 items – two out of stock and four not stocked.
Staff were a real high point. One partner found out a delivery containing a missing item was due the next day, and another checked a high shelf when our shopper was unable to find an item.
There wasn’t very little separating the discounters on price this week, and the same can be said for service and availability. Lidl in Broxburn was one point behind on 68.
Three out-of-stocks and one not-stocked line resulted in low marks for availability. However, our shopper described the store as “very nice, bright and clean” with “a lovely Bakery section and attractive chillers”.
The stars of the show were the staff, who were all “very polite and eager to help”. Our shopper was also impressed by the ultra-fast checkout experience.
There was a bigger drop-off in score when it came to Asda in Newark, which notched up 57 points. Its tally was not helped by three out-of-stocks.
The store’s music was too loud for our shopper, who also felt it “looked a bit tired and in need of a freshen up”. Issues included old and stained flooring, and an untidy clothing section with items left on the floor. Staff were also not particularly helpful to our shopper.
The bottom two stores also tied this week on just 44 points. These were Sainsbury’s in Attleborough and Tesco Thornton Heath.
Sainsbury’s had the better availability, with two out-of-stocks and one not-stocked product. Staff were hard to distinguish from customers due to differing uniforms, and our shopper also had a long wait at the till as there was just one staffed checkout open.
There were four out-of-stocks at Tesco along with one not-sold item. Similarly, staff were an issue and hard to find at times. Things got worse when one member of staff, who was having a loud phone conversation, turned her back on our shopper as she approached seeking assistance.
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