Morrisons Livingston achieved a near-perfect score of 94 this week.
First impressions were strong, thanks to a car park that was “very adequate for the store size”, and a clean and tidy store.
Inside the “well laid out” store, our shopper noted relevant and enticing offers and attractive displays. Meanwhile, service on the shop floor and on the checkout scored full marks.
Staff were easy to find, helpful and well presented. There was no queue at checkout and the assistant was “very nice”.
Availability was also strong, with just one item not stocked.
Close behind was Asda with 90 points. The Dundee store scored full marks for its car park, which was “easily accessible with no queues”.
The store had high standards throughout. “It was bright and well lit with no aisles obstructed,” said our shopper.
Asda scored one point less than Morrisons on store standards, as there were some empty shelves in the fruit & veg aisles.
However, the store was “pleasantly laid out and easy to navigate”, with services including pizza and hot food counters.
Shop floor service was also excellent, scoring full marks.
The store was only let down slightly by the checkout experience. Our shopper had to queue for two to three minutes and the assistant did not ask for her loyalty card. On the plus side, the assistant was friendly, quick and did not rush our shopper.
Again, availability was good, with just one item out of stock.
Tesco North Shields came third, with good scores on everything save availability. The “bright, airy and pleasant store” racked up 70 points overall.
Our shopper was able to find a Blue Badge space fairly close to the store, and the car park had more than enough spaces to cope with demand on the busy Friday evening.
On entrance, there was a “rather fetching” floral display for Mother’s Day.
Our shopper spoke with several members of staff, all of whom were “very helpful, very busy and certainly very visible”.
However, four items were out of stock and one not stocked – resulting in the lowest score on availability this week.
Next up was Sainsbury’s Oswestry with 66 points.
There were no queues in or out of the car park, which was well managed. An attendant offered to take the empty trolley back to the trolley park, which our shopper “gladly accepted”.
Store standards were generally high. The store layout was logical with helpful signage, but the aisles were not wide enough and there was some obstruction from promotional displays.
When it came to shop floor service, staff were easy to find and our shopper was “impressed by all the team members” encountered.
The downside came at the checkout. Our shopper had to wait four to five minutes to pay, and no staff member was managing the queues.
Availability was also low, with two items out of stock and three not stocked.
Waitrose came last this week – unusual for the retailer, which has won the most mystery shops in the Grocer 33 year to date.
The Henley-on-Thames store scored 46 points. Store standards were average, with a lack of relevant or enticing promotional displays.
Some of the layout “did not make sense”, and the store signage was not very helpful.
Staff on the shop floor “looked miserable” and were of limited help. On the checkout, our shopper had to wait four to five minutes.
Two items were out of stock and two were not stocked.
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