Waitrose stormed to victory with its second win in a row this week, earning excellent scores across the board.
Its store in Daventry mustered 89 points thanks to a “really enjoyable” shop. The branch was easy to navigate with “wide aisles” and exemplary service from partners.
“It was a pleasure to walk around and the staff were particularly helpful,” our shopper noted. While one staff member particularly went “out of her way” to help find a product, all were “helpful and polite”.
The shelves were well stocked and staff were busy replenishing shelves, while ensuring their trolleys did not cause any obstruction to shoppers.
The counters “looked enticing with delicious-looking food and were attractively laid out”.
Availability was good, with one item out of stock and one not stocked.
Second-placed Tesco in Reading scored 74 points thanks to high stock levels.
Our shopper was able to purchase all 33 items on the list, earning the store full marks on availability. This was a particularly striking achievement considering it was the first full score on this measure since 3 September.
The friendly shop floor staff were “knowledgeable” and helpful, but online pickers had left their trolleys in the aisles, creating obstructions.
At the checkout, staff were similarly “very pleasant and polite”, but there was a slight queue to be served.
Next up was Asda Benton with 70 points. The store was very busy, but this was mitigated by an excellent layout and shop floor service.
“The deli, pizza and hot chicken counters are a real star attraction in this store,” said our shopper. “Everything looks amazingly presented – clean, tidy, fresh and tasty looking.”
Staff were clearly knowledgeable about where items were located and offered guidance to our shopper.
The checkout experience was more mixed. The queue was long, with our shopper having to wait six to seven minutes.
However, the checkout assistant stood out as helpful and insisted on replacing the Pringles, which fell from the conveyor belt, as “she could tell they were broken”. The assistant was “very good and apologised to myself and the next customer”, our shopper noted.
Sainsbury’s Manchester came fourth with 62 points. The store was “very clean and orderly” overall with good signage and a logical layout.
However, availability was poor, with two items out of stock and two not stocked. click & collect was unavailable.
Although there was no queue at the checkout, service was “average”. The checkout assistant did not offer to help pack, ask our shopper for her loyalty card, or say goodbye. Service was similarly average on the shop floor.
Morrisons Brighton came last with 57 points. The store scored very poorly on availability, with four items out of stock and seven not stocked. When our shopper asked staff for guidance on whether items were stocked, “a few times they stated they didn’t know” or estimated their location.
“Some of the staff did not appear to have knowledge of stock or have the means to check items,” said our shopper.
Staff were also difficult to find, with our shopper having to search several aisles.
Checkout service was good, however, and our shopper only had to wait one minute to be served. The member of staff was “polite and helpful”.
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