Waitrose is king of virtual supermarkets

Waitrose.com and Ocado have come top of the table in a recent which.co.uk satisfaction survey of online supermarkets.

69 per cent of survey respondents are very satisfied with the overall service from Waitrose.com. Ocado, which sells Waitrose goods and is 25 per cent owned by the John Lewis Partnership, is not far behind with 64 per cent very satisfied. At the bottom of the table are Asda (24 per cent) and Sainsbury’s (30 per cent).

Waitrose.com and Ocado were rated highly for ease of placing orders, accuracy, delivery and quality of products. However, Asda was rated the best of the online supermarkets for value for money, with 38 per cent of customers saying it’s very good on this aspect.

Three quarters of people surveyed said that shopping online is more convenient and quicker than visiting a supermarket. However, substitution of items and quality of fresh produce can be poor in some cases.

Three quarters of Sainsbury’s online shoppers had a substituted item in their last delivery. One Which? member was horrified to receive just one Brussels sprout on Christmas Eve, rather than the kilo she had ordered from Sainsbury’s.

Just 21 per cent of Asda and a quarter of Sainsbury’s and Tesco customers rate them very good for fruit and veg quality.

Malcolm Coles, editor, which.co.uk, says: “It’s no surprise that Waitrose and Ocado have emerged as clear favourites in the battle of the online supermarkets – shopping online is all about convenience, and our survey shows that people don’t mind paying a bit extra if they know they’ll get good quality products and service in return.”