Waitrose in Southend-on-Sea crowned best seaside supermarket in Grocer 33 mystery shop

With the UK enjoying a record-breaking heatwave over the summer, holidaymakers have flocked to British seaside resorts in their droves. It’s been a huge boon for local shops, including supermarkets, with staycationers delivering huge seasonal uplifts and unique range opportunities particularly in hot summers.

That’s certainly true of Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Officially given city status in 2022 its 186,000 population swells over the summer, boosted by investment, including the Roslin Beach Hotel’s recent £10m renovation and new attractions including a £16m coastal transformation programme featuring a “green oasis” of rain gardens, water features and landscaped green spaces to beautify the seafront, as well as the world’s longest pier (almost 1.5 miles).

It’s now also home to the winner of the Grocer 33’s inaugural Seaside Special mystery shop, with Waitrose in Fossetts Way seeing off competition from other seaside supermarkets around the UK.

Read more:

• Asda wins cheapest supermarket again as it undercuts rivals by over £4

• Ben Sheppard of Waitrose Southend-on-Sea on seaside retail and James Bailey’s departure

• What is The Grocer 33 and how does it work?

Like a lot of seaside supermarkets, the 50,830 sq ft store’s is located on the outskirts of the town, but whereas some seaside resorts are run down, its catchment is dominated by affluent professionals and comfortable suburban families with high disposable incomes, according to CACI.

Its winning score of 68 was rooted in the week’s best performance on availability. Our shopper shops here regularly because “I like that you can always find a parking space easily”, and the store  also “has larger aisles than others”, is usually “less busy” and “the selection of food is much better”. However, the relatively low score reflects issues with store experience and customer service. “A lot of staff in the aisles with their trolleys” were blocking our shopper.

Some 275 miles to the north west was the Morrisons in Blackpool. In contrast to Southend it’s one of the UK’s most deprived areas, but it was just one point behind our winner on 67, With one item not stocked, the store picked up two points fewer than our winner on availability.

It outperformed the Waitrose on store experience, however, with our shopper praising the “general atmosphere”, the “well-stocked and tidy” displays of bakery and booze. And it was “nice to see a section with free fruit for children”.

On the other hand the layout was “confusing” and our shopper would like to see “all the food sections together and all the non-food sections together” – which would make the store more “logical”.

Just four points back in third was the giant Tesco Extra located on the outskirts of Great Yarmouth, about 1.5 miles from the town’s famous beach. In such a closely fought week, small improvements in any number of areas could have resulted in victory.

Most staff were “working hard” but they seemed stretched at times, said our shopper, though “when I did have interaction with the staff, most of them were friendly”.

In fourth place on 61 points was Sainsbury’s in Torquay. The store scored zero on availability, with five items out of stock.

Indeed, not being able to find products was our shopper’s main gripe about this “clean, tidy and smart” store. Scores were largely solid elsewhere, especially on customer service, with our shopper finding staff “very helpful and friendly”, and he was pleased to be “personally walked to where an item was” on the shelf.

About 100 miles up the south coast, Asda in Bournemouth took last place this week, thanks to its average-to-poor performance across the board. Our shopper described the stock levels and empty space on shelves as “terrible”.

Plus, the store “lacked staff”, making it “difficult to find someone” – and when staff were located they “seemed too busy to help” and “weren’t friendly and cheerful like other supermarkets I use”.