Waitrose topped the Grocer 33 - despite our shopper having to queue for 35 minutes in the car park just to get in the store.
The Grocer has revamped the mystery shopping format and scoring system to reflect the particular challenges supermarkets are facing during the coronavirus crisis.
The winning store in Newark scored well across all metrics, including availability, with our shopper finding 32 products on her list of 33 - only liquid hand soap was missing. Our shopper said the store was well stocked overall, particularly in the fresh section and on the meat aisles, but there was still a noticeable shortage of certain products such as tinned tomatoes, crisps, frozen veg, flour and cleaning products.
“However, I was pleasantly surprised to find there was a good supply of toilet roll,” she added. “And lots of staff replenishing the shelves. Some were wearing gloves, but not all.”
Staff were “friendly and polite” and the store was “clean and tidy”. Our shopper also said the store manager managed the queue well and was “jovial and apologetic for the wait”.
With social distancing measures in place, lengthy queues in the car park were a consistent feature of all our mystery shops. Our Asda shopper queued for 40 minutes, with shoppers separated by a barrier and signs advising to keep two metres from other people. However, as the line grew it had to double back on itself. An Asda employee tried their best to manage it with the use of a megaphone.
Shelves in-store were “full and tidy” and there was “a definite sense of calm” helped by “relaxed and friendly staff”. Aisles were also kept clear of restocking cages, with staff carrying products to shelves, to give customers more space to practice social distancing.
Our shopper at Tesco in Pontypool also waited 40 minutes, after arriving during time prioritised for elderly and vulnerable customers, but noted the “absolutely superb” staff member managing the queue kept those waiting entertained. “He had a way with people that disarmed those ready to have a grumble and the time passed really quickly,” she said.
The supermarket employed a one-way system to manage customer flow in store, with shoppers unable to backtrack and needing to ask a member of staff to retrieve products if they had already been passed.
Staff levels were high - “all working fast, filling shelves as quickly as they could” - but our mystery shopper was surprised more were not wearing gloves or face masks. Several shelves were still low on product, including tea, hand sanitiser, cereal, Quorn frozen products, tinned tomatoes, milk and jalapeños, with seven items missing from the basket. “I wasn’t disappointed as staff are doing an amazing job - I was just pleased to get any alternative.”
Our mystery shopper at Sainsbury’s in Solihull almost turned around to go home after encountering a long queue. “If the weather had been worse, I probably would have left,” she said. “However, overall, the store was managing the situation very well.” She was impressed with the amount of staff working to restock the store. They “seemed in good spirits”.
Morrisons in Chorlton experienced similar issues. The queue exceeded the length of the store, and “oddly one of the entrances had been closed off” but staff asked shoppers who weren’t buying fruit or veg to come forward to shop in other less congested sections of the store.
Results this week
| Asda | Morrisons | Sainsbury’s | Tesco | Waitrose | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Croydon | Chorlton | Solihull | Pontypool | Newark |
| Shopper name | Kim Dewdney | Jared Moore | Sue Burlton | Helen Osborn | Alex Jack |
| Date | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 |
| Time slot | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm |
| Shop starts | 09:35 | 10:00 | 09:46 | 09:08 | 11:05 |
| Visit Duration | 02:10 | 02:06 | 01:32 | 01:33 | 01:30h |
| Shop Duration | 01:00 | 01:11 | 00:55 | 00:57 | 01:00h |
| Cost (refer to the receipt) | £61.86 | £39.52 | £85.40 | £65.50 | £75.64 |
| Car Park (10) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Signposting (up to 1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Queueing time to park (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Trolleys (up to 2) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Queueing time from parking the car to enter the store (up to 3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feedback (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| I queued for 40 minutes after parking the car to entering the store. There were no staff directing traffic into or out of the carpark but there were plenty of spaces for parking. There were areas of the carpark that were cordoned off with barriers but it was not clear why this was the case. There were plenty of trolleys but there were also a lot that had been left by customers by their cars and not returned to the normal trolley parks. There was also a lot of litter in the carpark including items that had been dumped - eg a child’s broken car seat. This left the carpark looking very untidy and uncared for. The queue was organised by signs reminding people of social distancing rules and the symptoms to be aware of. There were crash barriers in place to form a line for queuing and there were lines drawn on the floor at 2 metre distances apart. However, all of these measures extended for a very short distance from the store entrance and by the time I joined the queue it was on the measured section, doubled back on itself and was beginning to form in the carpark. By the time I left the store the queue was 3 times longer than when I arrived and there were no extra measures in place. There was an employee walking around the carpark with a megaphone who did nothing and a man at the entrance to the store who also was doing nothing to assist in queuing. Thankfully everyone was behaving well and there was a self policing system working that stopped any problems arising. | It was fairly easy to find a space in the car park. However, shortly afterwards, I was asked to move to another space by a delivery driver who wished to maneuvre his vehicle. There was a long queue of customers entering the store which exceeded the length of the store. This was made safe by the use of barriers in the car park and it was marshalled by 2 staff members who intermittently reminded customers to maintain a distance of 2 metres from one another. There was also a small number of stickers which served as a visual guide, although I felt that there probably should have been more of them. Oddly, one of the two entrances had been closed off, which I thought could have improved the customer flow. However, customers not purchasing fruit and veg were called forward by the staff, presumably as that section was more congested. | There were some notices on some posts about keeping 2 metres apart, and there was a store attendant patrolling the carpark, I didn’t observe him telling people to keep apart, most people were but some did breach the distance occasionally if they weren’t concentrating | This was the highlight of the visit for me. I arrived at 9.08a.m. and unknown to me 9-10a.m. was the vulnerable hour. I had looked online before leaving to check for this as my local supermarket has this at an earlier time. There was a chap managing the line who was absolutely superb. There were three people before me in the queue, who like me were neither in the vulnerable category or NHS workers. This chap was making his way up and down the queue outside asking if anyone had come for the special hour. He was then letting people into the queue infront of “Nicky with the blue hair”. He had a real charm about him that made Nicky with the blue hair feel special, a 66 year old man in front of me enjoy his banter. I thought that whoever picked him for this job really knew his interpersonal skills well. He had a way with people that disarmed those ready to have a grumble and allow those like me having to queue to allow the time to pass really quickly. My 40 minute queue was entertainment itself! He relayed that there had been a few people unhappy about the system but all of us in the queue agreed that these are different times. There were round blue stickers on the floor, asking us as customers to social distance (photo attached) and these were also dotted around the store. There was only one entrance in and one entrance out. The chap managing the queue told us that once in the store it was one way only and if we forgot something we couldn’t go back but had to ask a member of staff to go back and get it for us. would give it 10 if I could | Entry to the car park was clearly sign posted from the road. The car park was very busy but there were spaces where I could park. The whole of the left hand side of the car park where the disabled parking bays are had been closed off with barriers and marked out using food crates as a place for people to form a queue outside the store keeping a 2 metre distance between customers. Upside down food crates had been placed in parking bays to provide guidance on social distancing while queueing outside the store. A member of staff was manning the entrance and allowing about 5 customers into the store at a time. He was very jovial, apologising for keeping people waiting and asking them how they were. Customers were generally very quiet whilst queueing with very little interaction. between them. I was queueing for 35 minutes outside the store before being allowed in. | |
| Store standards (20) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 17 |
| First impression (up to 5) | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Feedback | The store was limiting the number of customers allowed in at one time - about 10 at a time. On entry the first area encountered was fruit and vegetables and this was empty of previous customers. Shelves looked full and tidy and there was a definite sense of calm in the store. There were no staff obvious on entry. There were notices at the entrance to the store both outside and inside which were the same ones in the carpark reminding people of self distancing and symptoms and these were encountered throughout the store as I moved about.
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There were plenty of baskets and trolleys available. As I entered the store, there were a few staff members on hand. However, they were mostly chatting amongst themselves, rather than welcoming and assisting customers. Trolley wipes were available and there were notices and occasional announcements to remind customers to keep a safe distance from each other. | On entering the store there were 2 members of staff allowing access. There was a queue of 8 people at customer services so that was a long line due to distancing. I noticed a display of Easter Eggs near the entrance. The store obviously looked a lot less busy and was quieter than normal. | There was another small queue inside the store (a bit like in Disney when you think you’re at the front of the ride then you have to queue again inside!) but it just took us around the newspaper and magazine section. There was then another member of staff allowing us into the first aisle when there were less than 2-3 people in it. I had a quick chat asking how customers have been and he said that on the whole people had been very understanding. There were lots of signs up explaining what was happening re 2metres in between customers and the one way system. There was also a cleaning station. I heard one of the chaps working the queue tell another customer that they had 50 staff and 100 customers in at any one time.
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The atmosphere in the store was quite calm and there were plenty of staff available on the shop floor. There were notices on the shelves and posts advising customers to keep 2 me-tres apart, and an announcement over the tannoy asked customers to shop as quickly as possible whilst keeping 2 metres apart. |
| Displays (up to 3) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Feedback | The displays immediately on entry were gardening related - plants, shrubs and a huge selection of giant garden gnomes! There were also displays of sweet items including buckets of popcorn and donuts and a lot of chocolate items - eggs, large boxes etc - for Easter. I suppose these would be items to support people confined to home - gardening and movie nights being popular - but as a first item to pick up not very relevant. The other end of aisle displays were as I would normally expect in any supermarket and I did not really see anything that suggested a different approach to the current circumstances. There were no bigger packs, grab & go items or anything that identified “essential” products in any way. On the inside this looked like a normal supermarket except for the number of customers in the store.
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Presumably due to the smaller size of the store, there was a small number of seasonal displays, such as Easter eggs on 2 for £5, premium hot cross buns 4 packs for £1, as well as fresh meat on 3 for £9 and fresh fruit on 2 for £3. There was also a useful pallet display of Andrew toilet tissue multipacks on 18 rolls for £9 | I did not see any special displays in the store, it looked a little uninspiring, the end of row aisles didn’t stock anything eye catching. But I noticed a display of Easter Eggs near the entrance. | In the foyer there was product for your gardens – very relevant given that most of us will be spending a lot of time in our gardens. There were also plants inside helping to make the new queuing system. Most aisle ends then were full of Easter Eggs and Easter cards with some cleaning products on other aisle ends | The displays were mainly Easter products such as chocolate eggs. I didn’t notice any particularly relevant products aimed at helping customers through challenging times |
| Availability and replenishment (up to 5) | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Feedback | I was impressed with the amount of stock in the store. There was very little that was completely empty - gluten free pasta was a notable example - but in some areas there was less choice than usual. Pasta, toilet paper, curry sauces were low on stock. There were plenty of staff members on the shop floor and there was a lot of stock counting, sorting and moving items forward going on. This meant that rather than bringing out the large metal crates with stock to fill shelves, the staff were only bringing out what they could carry from the storeroom and replacing that on the shelf where necessary. The result was nothing to create an obstacle in the aisles and every single aisle, including those where restocking was taking place, had plenty of space for 2 trolleys to pass without touching. Staff were also aware of shoppers in their immediate area and were keeping a safe distance wherever this was possible. | There were low stocks of cooking oil and rice, a single item of dried pasta, and no stock of tinned tomatoes, flour and vitamin C tablets. There were 3 staff members restocking shelves, but not in these areas | There were lots of staff stocking shelves, I was impressed by the amount of staff around. The areas that were sparsely stocked were the tinned vegetables, pasta aisle and some parts of the freezer section, mostly the vegetable section, and the cleaning product aisles. The staff were stocking the cleaning aisle but not the other aisles, presumably because there was no stock. | There seemed to be plenty of staff around – all working fast, filling shelves as quickly as they could. Most aisles, with fresh and chilled produce especially, had someone restocking. Staff seemed quite used to working with customers and keeping a distance but I was surprised that there weren’t more with gloves and / or face masks on.
There were several shelves that were low on product – tea, hand sanitiser, cereal, quorn frozen products, tinned tomatoes, milk, jalapenos (I’ve attached a few pictures). Again, it was in the fresh not ambient sections where there was replenishment / a staff member. |
Overall I thought the store was pretty well stocked given the challenges faced by super-markets in terms of demand and supply at the moment. The fruit and veg section was well stocked, and there was also plenty of meat available which I have not seen in other stores. There was a noticeable lack of stock in certain aisles which came as no surprise. Tinned tomatoes, passata, cooking oil, crisps, frozen vegetables, biscuits, and cleaning products were all very low in stock. There was no flour, paracetamol or liquid hand soap available. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a good supply of toilet roll however. There were lots of staff replenishing the shelves, some were wearing gloves but not all. |
| Obstructions (up to 3) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Spillages (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Condition of the store (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Feedback | The store was very clean and tidy throughout. There were no spillages anywhere and shelves were very clean - even at the back where a normal wipe down would not reach. I was impressed with the cleanliness. All the floors, shelves and chillers were in good condition | The store was generally clean and tidy and free from maintenance issues. | The store looked a little shabby I felt, particularly the floor which had a lot of marks on it. I didn’t notice there were any cleaning staff around. | The store seemed very clean and ordered | The store was clean and tidy and had a sense of order. Products were neatly displayed where available and staff were working hard to replenish stock. Although there were quite a lot of stacking trolleys on the shop floor, staff were doing their best to keep them out of cus-tomers’ way. |
| Store layout (10) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Did the store layout seem logical and intuitive? (up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Was it easy to navigate the store while also feeling safe? (up to 6) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Were there any click & collect services available at the store and were they operating effectively? (up to 2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Shop Floor Service (20) | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 16 |
| Product location (up to 5) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Staff politness/responsiveness (up to 5) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Feedback |
Staff throughout the store were particularly helpful and I witnessed several encounters between them and customers. It seemed that they were actually looking out for customers looking lost of puzzled and were actually offering assistance. They were all polite and friendly and although they were keeping a safe distance away from customers they were not wearing masks and continued to smile and make good eye contact whilst helping. I was given very good directions to find fabric conditioner with the staff member knowing exactly which aisle to find it and checking I was OK to find it on my own. Another customer was obviously having difficulty finding a particular brand of milk and the staff member here left what she was doing and actually found the product for the customer. I received lots of smiles and “hellos” as I walked around the store and the staff seemed very relaxed and happy to be at work. I did not feel they were stressed at all which helped greatly in creating a calm atmosphere inside the store for customers. |
Staff were generally friendly and helpful when I made my enquiries. When I asked a male manager with grey hair where the nail brushes were, he walked me to the section before replying that they were unavailable. When I asked whether they were expecting any new stock, he explained that it appeared to have recently been discontinued as there was no longer a space for it on the shelf. When I asked a female staff member where the cooked chicken pieces were, she directed me to them. When I said I couldn’t spot them, she helpfully walked over and pointed them out to me on the shelf. | I spoke to a couple of the staff and they seemed in good spirits, they were willing to help and very well presented. I asked when an item was going to be back in stock and they were unsure, but quite apologetic | I have previously mentioned the team both outside and on the entrance to the store. The chap outside managing the line was just brilliant and the security chap letting you commence your shop was also very friendly.
I then asked for help locating the quorn sausages in the frozen section and the chap there said that customers had been buying quorn products up and showed me the Linda McCartney options. My daughter, who is vegetarian doesn’t like these so I thanked him but declined. I did look for the label for the Quorn Sausages in the Quorn section but couldn’t find one so I’m not sure they actually stocked them. As I walked away he showed me that they had some Tesco meat free sausages but as my daughter is very picky again I thanked him but declined.
Then in the meat section I asked for help with the skinless, boneless chicken thighs that I wanted. The lady showed me where they should have been – there was a big empty section – and then asked her colleague if they had any – they decided there was none on their restocking trolleys so I selected the skin-on, boned chicken thighs as an alternative. They seemed very busy and were very focused on task not the customer. I wasn’t disappointed as they are doing an amazing job in these crazy times – I was just pleased to get an alternative |
I asked several members of staff for help in locating items and all were polite and helpful. Although they were wearing name badges, the writing was quite small and as I had to stay 2 metres away from them I couldn’t read their names. The first person I spoke to directed me to the green beans, while the second told me where to find the naan bread. The friendliest member of staff was the man at the entrance who was making a real effort to keep every-one’s spirits up. |
| Was it easy to find a member of staff (up to 3) | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Were staff easy to identify through their uniform or name badges ( up to 2) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Staff presentation (up to 5) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Feedback | Genuinely impressed with the way in which the staff were working and engaging with customers - better than my experience outside of the current situation. | Staff wore clean uniforms and were easily identifiable by their name badges. Some of them also wore gloves and/or face masks. When I made enquiries, they respectfully kept a safe distance from me. | Staff did mostly maintain a safe distance but I noticed at one of the self service checkouts, a staff member was too close to a customer when offering assistance.
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Given how busy the supermarkets are and the social distancing that we are having to do, I thought this store was very well organised, with staff working really hard to refill shelves so there was adequate food for us customers.
I was surprised that more staff weren’t wearing face masks but more so, gloves. I think, as someone worried about this horrid virus, my only contact with people outside of my house is the trip to the supermarket once every 9-10 days. It would be more re-assuring if all of the team were wearing gloves as they are handling food. I spotted one lady on customer service with a mask but that was it.
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The store was clearly making a concerted effort to keep the shelves well stocked and there were more than the usual number of staff on the shop floor. All seemed to be trying to maintain the social distance between themselves and customers and not get in the way. |
| Tills and checkouts (20) | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 16 |
| How well managed were the queues leading up to the till-operated checkouts in terms of maintaining order and social distancing? (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| How well managed were the queues leading up to the self-service checkouts in terms of maintaining order and social distancing? (Please observe after you’ve completed your shop, and include observations around attentiveness to customers requiring help due to flashing lights/unattended items in bagging area) (up to 2) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| How long did it take to queue (prior to scanning) (up to 4) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Please rate checkout staff on their customer service and safety (up to 7) | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Time for G33 items to be scanned (including payment) (up to 3) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Was the till receipt free of mistakes? (up to 2) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Feedback - please provide any further details/feedback on the tills and checkout | 3 items were charged at a different price to the shelf labels - toothpaste was charged at £3 (shelf label was £1.95), curry paste was charged at £1 (shelf label was £1.19) and naan breads were charged at 49p (shelf label was 85p).
The till service was very good. Whilst queueing there were staff members who were approaching customers if they thought they were standing too close together and asking if they were shopping together. If they weren’t they were reminding them of the safe distancing policy. The till staff were doing the same to ensure that people stayed apart when they were placing items on the belts. All of this was done with a smile and very politely so everyone appeared happy to comply.
The staff member who served me was very friendly. We chatted about the current situation and how the store was coping and this was a pleasant encounter.
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I had to queue for a while behind a marker in front of the till. Customers were called forward to other tills when available, as they were not visible from within the aisles.
The service was exceptionally warm, friendly and courteous. The staff member smiled throughout the transaction. After saying ‘hello’, she scanned my items, offered me bags and then asked for my More card. Finally, she thanked me for my custom and wished me a pleasant afternoon. I was really made to feel welcome and valued as a customer. |
n/a | There were no social niceties – it was very functional yet prompt. | There were several members of staff managing the tills and directing customers in a friend-ly manner. There were no queues and I was served straight away. The man at the till was a trainee and had another member of staff with him helping him to scan my items,. This was done promptly and efficiently.
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| Availability score (20) | 13 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 18 |
| Of the 33 items on your shopping list how many were: | |||||
| Available (up to 20) | 29 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 32 |
| Out of stock (-2 per product) | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| Not stocked (-1 per product) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Availability % | 90.6 | 83.3 | 78.8 | 83.9 | 97.0 |
| Asda | Morrisons | Sainsbury’s | Tesco | Waitrose | |
| Location | Croydon | Chorlton | Solihull | Pontypool | Newark |
| Shopper name | Kim Dewdney | Jared Moore | Sue Burlton | Helen Osborn | Alex Jack |
| Date | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 | 03/04/2020 |
| Time slot | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm | 9.00am - 12.00pm |
| Shop starts | 09:35 | 10:00 | 09:46 | 09:08 | 11:05 |
| Visit Duration | 02:10 | 02:06 | 01:32 | 01:33 | 01:30h |
| Shop Duration | 01:00 | 01:11 | 00:55 | 00:57 | 01:00h |
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