M&S Named The ‘Best’ Supermarket, Co-op The ‘Worst’

 Namnews, 25th February 2022

Marks & Spencer is the best in-store supermarket in the UK, beating last year’s top scorer Aldi in the annual survey from consumer watchdog Which?

The result is based on a consumer survey that looks at a range of factors including store appearance, product range, and value for money.

M&S, which is currently the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK, achieved the highest score this year at 78% as recent moves to improve its offer paid off. The chain received five stars for store appearance, customer service and the quality of its own label and fresh products.

M&S COO and Food Managing Director Stuart Machin commented: “As M&S Food modernises to become a bigger, better, fresher food business and expand our appeal to enable more customers to shop bigger baskets, this is a welcome endorsement.”

Aldi was only narrowly beaten, with a 77% customer score. It was the only supermarket to get the full five stars for value for money – arguably an important measure as living costs continue to rise.

Waitrose completed Which?’s top three with a 75% customer score. Shoppers gave the supermarket full marks for the appearance of its stores, helpfulness of staff, short queues and the quality of its fresh produce; however, it suffered the same fate as M&S when it came to value for money.

The Co-op was deemed the worst in-store supermarket, languishing at the bottom of the ranking for the second year running with 61%. It scored poorly in areas such as value for money, stock availability, queuing, and range of products.

A Co-op spokesperson responded: “Which?’s results are based on a sample of just over 200 people but each week more than 15 million shoppers overwhelmingly vote with their feet and visit our community stores.”

Meanwhile, the traditional big four supermarkets – Tesco (70%), Sainsbury’s (68%), Asda (67%), and Morrisons (67%) – were all in the bottom half of the table for their in-store offering.

“Shoppers have chosen M&S as their favourite supermarket for a great in-store shopping experience and quality products,” said Harry Rose, Which? magazine Editor.

“But with the cost of living continuing to rise, many people are looking for quality at the cheapest possible price, and this is reflected by a strong showing in our research for some of the least expensive supermarkets.”

When it came to online supermarkets, Iceland topped the Which? ranking with a customer score of 76%, getting five stars for the availability of delivery slots and how easy its website was to use. Tesco finished second alongside Ocado on 74%.

Despite its e-commence expertise, Amazon Fresh surprisingly came bottom in the online grocery ranking.

NAM Implications:

• Points to the need for serious consideration of an M&S split into Food & Non-food…
• Also, these charts can be invaluable bases for reassessing the labelling of your on & offline customers as Invest, Maintain or Divest.