Morrisons cake market street

Source: Morrisons

Morrisons claimed its first service and availability award in the current Grocer 33 year, albeit in a low-scoring week all round.

The winning store was Morrisons in Bridgwater, Somerset, with 67 points. The chicken korma ready meal was out of stock and the Appletiser not stocked, otherwise our shopper picked up all of the remaining 31 items.

One member of staff was particularly friendly and helpful, but there were very few others available. Our shopper also found the checkout assistant “friendly, chatty and efficient”.

Asda in Farnborough was just one point adrift of Morrisons. Availability wasn’t great with two out-of-stock and one not-stocked product. However, service levels were high with our shopper asking six staff members for assistance and all proving friendly and helpful.

Availability was also the biggest issue at Waitrose in Leeds, with four products out of stock. Staff were again helpful, but our shopper found the store “small and cramped” and faced a lengthy wait at the tills.

The Tesco superstore in Greenford did not stock seven of the items on our list, which led to our shopper having to ask for help on a number of occasions. She expected staff to either suggest an alternative or take her to the area where she could find similar products, but none did.

Our shopper had a shocker at Sainsbury’s Wimbledon, even beyond the four out-of-stock and eight not-stocked items. He described the chilled section as freezing and picked up a parking ticket for exceeding the 90-minute maximum stay while in the store.