Morrisons fish counter

Source: Karen Jackson

Our shopper liked the ‘enticing’ fresh food counters at Morrisons Dundee

Morrisons Dundee topped the leaderboard with 79 points this week, thanks to good shop floor service and store standards.

Our shopper was “impressed” by the Morrisons store and said “the helpfulness of the staff” stood out.

It appeared “a clean, tidy and well run store”, with an “excellent” car park and “enticing” fresh food counters.

Our shopper particularly praised the system for food bank donations, which they would like to see replicated at competitors.

The only thing letting down the Dundee store was its busy checkouts, which left our shopper waiting more than four minutes to be served.

The store scored adequately on availability, with one item out of stock and two not stocked.

Second place went to Waitrose, which scored 75 points. The Brighton store received full marks for shop floor service and our shopper praised the staff, who “went out of their way to assist me”.

Store standards were also strong, and our shopper said “the layout and standard of this store could not be criticised”.

The checkout experience was positive, too. “The staff member warmly welcomed me, and started a brief impromptu conversation,” our shopper reported. “I was asked if I needed help in taking the shopping to the car.” Items were “handled carefully”.

However, Waitrose did suffer on availability: four items were out of stock.

Next up was Sainsbury’s Woolton with 68 points. The store scored well on service but again was let down by availability levels.

A total of five items were out of stock and four items were not stocked, meaning our shopper could only purchase 24 items out of 33.

There were “a few gaps on the shelves” particularly in the fruit & vegetable section.

On the plus side, the trip was “a very calm, relaxing shopping experience”. Our shopper praised the “friendliness of the staff”, which contributed to a “welcoming atmosphere”.

“The store was clean, bright and airy, without any sign of spillages or litter,” they said.

Tesco and Asda brought up the rear with just one point between them.

Tesco Rainham scored 58 points, while last-placed Asda Farnborough scored 57.

Tesco performed well on service, but poorly on availability and store standards. Four items were out of stock and two were not stocked.

The fruit & vegetable section looked “a little sparse” considering the shop took place at the start of the day.

The layout was “generally easy to navigate”, with wide aisles and clear signposting, though some items were not where our shopper expected them to be.

Asda scored very poorly on till service. Our shopper had to wait for 15 minutes to be served, as queuing stretched “well down the aisle”. It took seven minutes before an announcement was made for more staff to come and open tills.

Our shopper was “put off from shopping there” by the long queues and busy car park. There was no refund for the car parking charges, and two of the three payment machines were out of order.

There were some redeeming features: the store was “well stocked” and was also “fairly neat and tidy”.

In fact, the Asda store scored highest this week on availability, with just one item out of stock and another not stocked.