Waitrose has been named the nation’s best supermarket by consumer group Which?, while Iceland picked up the award for the stand-out online experience and Marks and Spencer topped the convenience store satisfaction survey with its Simply Food stores.
Which? surveyed more than 7,000 shoppers, with Waitrose just edging ahead of Marks and Spencer to win the the award for the most popular stores. Both earned plaudits for the presentation of their stores and the quality of their own-label and fresh products.
Shoppers were asked to rate stores based on factors such as appearance, ease of finding products and overall quality of fresh products. In the online category, they were asked about the relevance of substitutions for products, value for money and delivery service.
Aldi and Lidl shared third place and are the only two supermarkets in the survey to be awarded top marks for value for money.
Morrisons moved up from eighth place last year to fifth place, making it the biggest climber, in further evidence that a turnaround plan under chief executive David Potts is working.
Survey respondents rated Asda as the worst supermarket below Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The most common complaints regarding the three was customers’ favourite products not being in stock, items being difficult to find and value for money being poor.
In the online category, Iceland Online came top for the second consecutive year, with customers particularly happy with convenient delivery slots and friendly drivers.
Ocado took second spot ahead of other online competitors like Morrisons, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
Richard Headland, Which? magazine editor, said: “With concerns over rising prices the competition among supermarkets is fiercer than ever. While value for money remains a top priority, in-store appearance and the availability of quality and fresh products can also go a long way to satisfying shoppers’ needs.”
The full list, with customer satisfaction score:
1. Waitrose - 74%
2. Marks & Spencer - 73%
3. Aldi - 72%
= Lidll - 72%
5. Morrisons - 70%
6. Iceland - 69%
7. Sainsbury's - 67%
8. Tesco - 66%
9. Asda - 62%
