Tesco delivery van

Source: Tesco

Smooth, quick, timely delivery, no substitutions, good-quality products and all boxes ticked.” That was the glowing verdict of our mystery shopper as Tesco claimed victory in the latest Online 33. Tesco delivered all 33 items exactly as our shopper had ordered them. It lost marks due to the salmon being a little short-dated and the driver not offering to help unpack.

Its closest challenger was Morrisons with a score of 88. Our shopper described her experience as the “easiest online shop I have ever done”. She was unable to order six items but Morrisons suggested suitable alternatives for five of these. While there were no plastic bags used, the shop did require five paper bags.

Our shopper had to contact Sainsbury’s customer services in order to get going. As with Tesco, there was one unavailable item but a suitable alternative was not suggested. It did deliver the remaining 32 items.

Ocado was another strong performer with 83. This score may even have been higher had our shopper accepted the two suggested alternatives for unavailable lines. The online specialist used six plastic bags.

Our Waitrose shopper was unable to book her delivery slot until her basket met the £60 minimum spend requirement for free delivery. After that, she found it “easy and stress-free”. Waitrose delivered all 33 items but a number of fresh items did not have as long a life as our shopper would have liked.

Substitutions were an issue for Asda, which changed three lines from the list ordered by our shopper. The driver did not offer to help with unpacking.