Upmarket grocer Waitrose has beaten off competition from Marks & Spencer as well as budget rivals Aldi and Lidl to be crowned the nation’s favourite supermarket.
That’s according to the latest Which? supermarket survey, which polls over 7,000 shoppers and scores retailers across a range of categories including customer service, quality of fresh produce and offer.
Waitrose achieved an impressive customer score of 75%, gaining top marks for own label products, staff helpfulness and store appearance. It didn't score so well on pricing though, at 2/5.
M&S (69%) was voted the second best followed by Aldi (69%) and Lidl (67%), with the two challenger supermarkets taking full marks for their pricing.
For the third year running the Co-operative was voted the worst for in-store shopping with a score of 57%. Shoppers here were unhappy with the shopping trolleys provided, value for money, offers, stock levels and the range of products.
The best supermarkets for in-store shopping
Which? asked shoppers to rate supermarkets on 13 categories when it came to their in-store experience.
These included the range of products, stock levels, quality of own-label products, quality of fresh produce, offers, value for money, ease of finding products, staff availability and helpfulness, queuing times, shopping trolleys, store tidiness and appearance.
Here’s how all the supermarkets stacked up with details of how they scored on some key categories from the survey.
|
Brand |
Customer Score |
Stock levels |
Quality of fresh products |
Value for money |
Staff helpfulness |
Store appearance |
|
Waitrose |
75% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
2/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
|
Marks & Spencer |
69% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
2/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Aldi |
69% |
3/5 |
4/5 |
5/5 |
3/5 |
2/5 |
|
Lidl |
67% |
3/5 |
4/5 |
5/5 |
2/5 |
2/5 |
|
Iceland |
66% |
4/5 |
3/5 |
5/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
|
Sainsbury's |
63% |
4/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Asda |
61% |
3/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
|
Morrisons |
60% |
3/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
|
Tesco |
59% |
3/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
|
The Co-operative Food |
57% |
2/5 |
3/5 |
2/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
Online shopping
Of course, not all of us actually go to the supermarket to pick up our groceries, preferring instead to do it all online. Which? also surveyed its members on their online shopping experiences.
Iceland beat five-time winner Ocado to the top spot this year with a customer score of 77%.
It’s the first time the supermarket, which brough back its online service in April 2013, has topped the online category. Shoppers gave the supermarket top marks for its online offers, value for money and convenient delivery slots.
Meanwhile Asda was named the worst supermarket for online shopping achieving a customer score of 65%. Shoppers found it difficult to find what they needed on the site and weren’t impressed with stock levels, substitutions, range of products and the quality of own label as well as fresh goods.
The best supermarkets for online shopping
Which? asked shoppers to rate online supermarket using 10 categories.
These included ease of finding products and being in stock, convenient delivery slots, range of products, substitutions, the quality of own-label products and fresh produce, drivers’ service, offers and value for money.
Here’s how all the supermarkets’ online offerings stacked up with details of how they scored on some key categories from the survey.
|
Brand |
Customer Score |
Stock levels |
Availability of delivery slots |
Substitutions |
Quality of fresh products |
Driver's service |
|
Iceland online |
77% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Waitrose Deliver |
74% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
3/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
|
Ocado |
73% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
3/5 |
5/5 |
4/5 |
|
Morrisons online |
72% |
4/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Tesco |
68% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
3/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Sainsbury's |
67% |
4/5 |
5/5 |
3/5 |
4/5 |
4/5 |
|
Asda |
65% |
3/5 |
4/5 |
3/5 |
3/5 |
4/5 |
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What do you think?
Not satisfied with the results? Have your say about the supermarkets in the two polls below.
This article has been updated from an older version