Sainsbury’s provides best online shop in the East End of London

Newham is a bustling, multicultural east London borough that’s one of the most ethnically diverse local authorities in England – approximately 72% of the population are from ethnic groups other than white. It’s is also home to long-standing working-class communities and wealthy urbanites drawn to the major regeneration and modern developments found mainly in Stratford around the Olympic Park.

Overall, though, Newham is not part of the Carhartt-sporting, sourdough-eating gentrification associated with much of east London. Places like Canning Town, East Ham and Plaistow are the real East End – in all its messy, densely populated, but genuine and vibrant glory.

CACI notes Newham’s “exceptionally dense, diverse and economically stretched demographic composition”, and indeed, it over-indexes most dramatically on the Low Income Living demographic at 26% vs a national average of 13.3%. This group does the vast majority of its shopping in-store (90% vs 10% online), with CACI noting for this week’s online special that this demographic represents one of the two “biggest untapped opportunities for online channel growth by volume”.

As usual for our Online Grocer 33 mystery shops, the usual suspects are joined by Amazon and Ocado but, after dominating for a time, Ocado failed to take the online win for the second time in a row – and was actually pushed back into fourth place this week.

Victory went to Sainsbury’s with 88 points and the week’s only perfect score on availability. Our shopper praised the “accessible” site with the “swift navigation” and search feature making the process “very easy and efficient”. The “patient and friendly” driver also checked our shopper’s order after she found the cucumber “tiny” – and was able to confirm she had in fact ordered a small cucumber. Overall, the experience means she “would use this retailer again”, although the Tenderstem having a use-by date of the next day was “inconvenient” and “that is what has previously deterred me from ordering delivery from supermarkets”.

Tied on 82 points for second place were Tesco and Waitrose, with the latter having won our previous online special. This time out it was punished on availability, with two unavailable items proving the different between victory and second place. Our Waitrose mystery shopper found the site “generally easy to access and navigate” with “most products easy to find” and “polite and efficient” delivery. However, the website froze “a few times” while he was building his basket, which “interrupted the shopping process”.

Tesco, meanwhile, also missed out thanks to two unavailable items but performed well in most other areas. Our shopper tends to shop in-store “because I prefer to choose the products myself” but said “I would be happy to shop online with Tesco again”. She was “pleasantly surprised by how simple and convenient the whole process was”, praising Tesco’s “very good” website, the “kindness” of the driver and the products arriving “in good condition”.

Fourth place went to online specialists Ocado, whose crown has been toppled slightly in recent online mystery shops. Our shopper found the site “easy” to navigate and add items to her basket, although would have appreciated more help with finding misspelled items. Overall, she was “very happy with my order and the delivery experience”, particularly the “very pleasant” delivery driver who had a “friendly attitude” and provided “excellent service”.

Just one point back on 78 in fifth place was Morrisons. Our shopper praised the website’s ease of navigation but disliked the lack of promotions and would like “more eye-catching colours and design to be added”. He found it “very quick” to build a basket but found the site “added random items to my basket when it went to checkout”. The produce was “fresh” with long expiry dates, but our shopper “did not like the random items suggested [to replace] items that were out of stock”.

Asda came sixth with 74 points despite a joint-second-best showing on availability, with one item unavailable. Our shopper uses Asda online “every few months” thanks to its “reasonable prices and cheap delivery costs if you book far enough in advance”. He found the website “easy to use” with a “clean look about it”, but said the driver “stood back from the door while I unpacked and didn’t make any conversation apart from saying hello and goodbye”. Furthermore, it “took me a while to pack all the items away from the delivery tray – I would prefer it if the shopping came in bags like with Ocado”.

For the third online special in a row, Amazon finished dead last, this time 13 points behind sixth with 61. This week’s worst performance on availability came in addition to a delivery driver who simply dumped the groceries at the door and “was already walking back to his car”. Our shopper “would prefer a more considerate handover in the future”. However, the items arrived “in perfect condition” and the website was “quite easy” to use, though it would be better if “the navigation was a little clearer”.