In a competitive week across the board, Tesco’s South Wigston store won with 79 points.
The store scored well on availability – only the jelly babies were not stocked – and the shop was a “pleasant experience”.
Our shopper was impressed by the staff, all of whom were very happy and willing to help. There were plenty of staff available on the shop floor and they were generally well presented, though a few did not have their name badges on.
There was some queuing and congestion on the checkouts, but two more were opened to cut waiting times. And the service was excellent: the assistant greeted our shopper and took care handling the products.
Runner-up Morrisons beat Tesco in almost every aspect but fell short on availability, leading to a score of 76 points.
The Worthing store had a well-managed car park with no queues, and racked up the best score on store layout. The food-to-go section and the counters were all well stocked and looked “tempting and fresh”.
Morrisons was also the only store to score full marks on shop floor service. Staff were easy to find, well presented and helpful, and one staff member looked in multiple places to help our shopper find a product.
Finally, checkout experience was excellent. There was no queue for the checkout and staff were “attentive and polite”.
However, availability levels dragged the score down. Three items were out of stock, including the red leicester cheese, while two were not stocked.
Asda and Waitrose held joint third place with 72 points each.
Waitrose Queensway was the strongest on store standards, giving an excellent first impression. “I was impressed by the offers on display as soon as you walked on to the shop floor,” said our shopper.
Restocking trolleys were mostly lined up against the wall and when trolleys were in the aisles, staff were using them to actively fill the shelves.
Staff were “always helpful” and assisted our shopper several times in finding products.
When it came to availability, one item was out of stock and two were not stocked.
Asda Solihull scored better on availability than Waitrose, with just two items not stocked.
However, it had a more mixed performance in other areas.
Shop floor service was generally good. There were plenty of staff available, who were friendly when approached and well presented.
However, our shopper felt their responses were “a bit of a mixed bag” when asked about finding specific items.
Two staff members our shopper approached did not seem to know whether the store stocked an item she was looking for.
There was also a mistake on the receipt: our shopper was not charged for the iceberg lettuce.
Last place was Sainsbury’s Norwich, which scored 63 points. The car park was “very busy” with few spaces left.
Checkout service was poor. Our shopper had to wait two or three minutes and queues were not particularly well managed.
Our shopper said the checkout assistant “didn’t appear to realise she was putting the items through far too quickly for me to pack and keep up. There was very little care of products given and very little communication.”
On the plus side, shop floor service was excellent. There were plenty of helpful staff available and in some areas, two were working to restock a single aisle.
On availability, just one item was out of stock: the ham & mushroom tagliatelle.
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