John Lewis tops retail survey

John Lewis has topped a Which? league table to find Britain’s best shops, winning plaudits for its store environment, staff and products.

The survey of 14 000 people finds that John Lewis was consistently given a five-star rating for the ease of finding products, tidiness and other factors affecting the store environment.

Stores were rated in nine different product categories. John Lewis reigned supreme in six of the nine sections for its store environment and product offer, including electricals, home and garden, clothes and accessories, toiletries, toys and games, and sports and leisure.

In August, parent company The John Lewis Partnership appointed former Design House creative director Paul Porral as its head of creative services.

John Lewis’ sister chain Waitrose earned top marks in the groceries segment, while Lidl, which designs its stores in-house, and Netto were voted the worst shops, in terms of environment and staff.

Also lounging at the bottom of the tables for store environment were Ikea, Tesco and Homebase in the home and garden segment and Argos in the electricals category. New Look and Topshop performed poorly in the clothes and accessories category. In the toiletries category, Lush matched John Lewis, but Superdrug scored low, along with Asda, Wilkinson and Savers.

In the entertainment section, Waterstone’s is regarded as having the best store environment, while WH Smith and the major supermarkets performed badly.

The Early Learning Centre and Hamleys scored well, along with John Lewis, in the toy category, while Sportsworld, JJB Sports and JD Sports bottomed out in the sports equipment segment.