Waitrose is best for everything (er, except value)

WAITROSE has topped a supermarket satisfaction survey for the second year running.

The upmarket chain beat discount rivals Aldi and Lidl to be crowned the best instore supermarket in Which?’s annual satisfaction survey.

Waitrose scored a maximum five stars in almost every category from ease of finding products to fast-moving queues and friendly staff. It was let down only by its two stars for value.

In the Which? survey of more than 14,000 of its members, Asda was rated the worst supermarket. Although shoppers liked Asda’s range of goods in store, they wanted a greater availability of products with recyclable packaging.

The survey revealed that Asda does not provide the noteworthy store experience of Waitrose or Marks & Spencer, or the value of Aldi or Lidl. And Asda scored only two stars for the quality of its own-label products.

Marks & Spencer lived up to its reputation for quality when it comes to food and drink, scoring five stars for both its own-brand and fresh produce.

Its overall customer score of 73 per cent places it below Waitrose at 76 per cent, with it failing to match its rival’s in-store experience or product range.

Marks & Spencer was also not able to match Waitrose for its ease of finding products, queues or staff availability.

Discount stores Aldi and Lidl were rated best for value, both receiving five stars.

The two supermarkets are seen to be ideal for those wanting to save money as rock-bottom prices make customers more forgiving of their less-impressive traits, such as long queues or unhelpful staff.

One Aldi customer told Which?: ‘It’s not a pleasant place to shop but value for money is exceptional.’ Morrisons and Sainsbury’s ranked mid-table, with Tesco sliding in below and Iceland coming in second-to-bottom.

Shoppers liked Iceland’s value for money but this was not enough to boost its overall score. The supermarket failed to impress with its fresh produce or product range and received just one star for availability of recyclable packaging.

The Which? survey found that when shopping in store, people were most frustrated by waiting for help at self- service checkouts (26 per cent) and by a lack of staffed checkouts (25 per cent).

Ocado, the UK’s only purely online supermarket, scored highly in Which?’s analysis of online grocers and was the only supermarket labelled a Which? Recommended Provider.

Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: ‘The quality of fresh products is the single most important factor for our members when choosing where to shop in store.

‘This is just one of the areas where shoppers have told us that Waitrose excels.

‘ There’s clear room for improvement for the “big four” – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda – as they continue to trail behind Waitrose and M&S for experience and behind Aldi and Lidl on value.’