Marks & Spencer is the nation’s favourite supermarket despite being “a bit pricey”, a survey of shoppers has found.
Aldi was the second most popular, showing customers still want value for money, according to the Which? study.
M&S came top of the consumer group’s rankings for the third year in a row, with a customer score of 76 per cent. It achieved five stars out of five for customer service, as well as staff availability and helpfulness, store appearance and overall quality of own-label and fresh products. One person told Which? they get “an excellent experience, quality products and good customer service” when shopping at the chain.
However, the upmarket store missed out on Which?’s coveted “recommended provider” status because it only scored two out of five for value for money. One customer said: “When I want something a bit special they never let me down [but] it can be a bit pricey”.
Aldi missed out on recommended status because of receiving only two stars for its range, availability and self-service checkouts. One customer said: “Excellent value but long queueing times at checkout.”
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Which? regularly finds Aldi to be the cheapest supermarket for a shopping list of groceries in its monthly supermarket price comparison. It recently crowned the chain as the cheapest supermarket of 2023.
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Asda and Morrisons were at the bottom of Which?’s rankings, both scoring 64 per cent. They each achieved two stars for value for money and failed to rank more than three stars out of five in any category. Talking about Asda, one shopper said: “I regularly struggle to get everything I need.” A Morrisons customer described the grocer as “hit and miss”.
Iceland topped the consumer group’s separate rankings for online supermarkets, with a customer score of 80 per cent. Shoppers gave high praise for its customer service, value for money and quality of own-label and fresh products. People commended the “helpful delivery staff” and “easy-to-use website”.
However, Iceland missed out on recommended status because of its failure to put traffic light nutrition labelling on the front of its products, a long-standing demand of Which?
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Joint second favourites for online supermarkets were Waitrose and Tesco, which both scored 78 per cent.
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Waitrose did earn recommended status for its online offering because it scored a minimum of three to five stars in all categories, on top of its impressive customer score. One shopper told Which?: “A Rolls Royce grocer … online delivery is efficient and reliable.”
Ele Clark, retail editor at Which? said: “M&S pipped Aldi to first place in our annual satisfaction survey this year, showing that — for shoppers who can afford it — quality products and brilliant customer service are still the key to a great in-store experience.
“No supermarket achieved five stars for value for money, but the fact that Aldi came second shows that price is still a top priority for many shoppers who’ve struggled with spiralling food costs for the last two years.”
