Tesco’s Old Swan, Liverpool branch bagged an easy win in this week’s Grocer 33 with 93 points. Although a large store, our mystery shopper noted it was spotlessly clean throughout, nicely spaced and “pleasing to the eye” – which gave off the feeling of a “well thought-out” store design and layout.
She particularly highlighted the gardening display by the entrance door, as well as the “beautiful” flower display and attractive homeware section upon entry. The store was generally very well stocked and earned top points for availability, as she managed to buy everything on our shopping list.
Shop floor service was also “wonderful” and she noted the atmosphere among colleagues contributed to a nice environment overall. Altogether, she was impressed by the pleasant and “hassle-free” shopping experience.
Next up was Waitrose’s Nine Elms branch in London with 80 points. This store was very clean, spacious and well-kept, according to our shopper. It earned top marks for customer service – shop floor staff were polite, approachable and helpful even though they looked very busy at work – as well as store layout.
However, this store saw its final score slightly impacted by availability – one of our items was out of stock while three were not stocked. Our visitor also noted the café was closed, but overall she found the store to be “very pleasant”.
Sainsbury’s Denton branch came third with 71 points. Our shopper found the store generally tidy and free from clutter. The produce area was reasonably well stocked, although there were some noticeable gaps. The food counters were neatly presented and enticing.
Staff were well groomed, friendly and largely helpful. However, our shopper said the store failed to provide a “smooth” shopping experience, partly due to some issues with availability. Three of our items were out of stock and one colleague checked their handheld device for Blue Dragon Pad Thai Kits, which came up as out of stock – however, the shopper ended up finding some on shelf shortly afterwards.
Fourth-placed Morrisons trailed behind with 68 points. Its Baglan, Neath Port Talbot, branch was a bit hit and miss. On the plus side, she was impressed by the “mini garden centre” at the front of the store and said the flower display gave a great first impression. The food counters also looked enticing. Another plus point was the abundance of staff, who were all helpful when approached for assistance.
Our shopper described the store as neat and tidy on the whole. However, there were some maintenance issues that hindered store standards – the sausages and cooked meats aisle had three cages that prevented customers from accessing some of the fridges. The fresh pasta sauce section was left in “a mess” after a damaged container contaminated other products on the shelf, and there were leaking bags on the floor of the sugar aisle.
Despite the good levels of stock overall, four items on our list were out of stock and one was not stocked.
Lastly, Asda’s Shirley Superstore on the outskirts of Solihull scored poorly with our mystery shopper, who gave it a total of 36 points. Although the store was not busy, it still struggled with limited availability – two items were out of stock and five were not stocked.
Furthermore, staff were not particularly helpful, but the checkout area was “good”.
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