Retail: Top of the shops – and who’s worst on high street

RUDE, unhelpful staff and cluttered shop floors are helping to drive customers away from Britain’s high streets, according to new research by a consumer watchdog.

More than four out of ten people now prefer to shop online, saying it is cheaper and easier to compare prices.

Halfords, Blacks and WH Smith came out worst in the survey of 100 shops, while Lush, John Lewis and Apple offered the best shopping experience.

The survey of more than 11,000 shoppers, by the consumer watchdog Which? found 41 per cent of people now prefer to shop online.

WH Smith was one of the lowest rated shops, with people criticising the “cluttered” environment, while Halfords came in for criticism for its “unhelpful” staff.

Tesco was rated worst for clothes shopping, with one customer saying: “The aisles are narrow and cluttered with rails. Clothes aren’t in size order so it’s virtually impossible to find what you need.” The supermarket came in joint 95th position overall on the list of 100 shops.

John Lewis was the most highly rated department store for the second year in a row and also scored highly for its electricals, furniture and cosmetics departments.

M&S was also ranked highly for service, with staff described as “well trained and friendly”, “helpful” and “knowledgeable”, while Clarks was praised for its helpful staff.

Martyn Hocking, Which? editor, said: “With household budgets squeezed, people are becoming choosier about when and how they purchase products. High street shops cannot afford to give customers poor service if they want to tempt shoppers away from their computers and back to the high street.”

The continuing squeeze on household budgets has had an impact on habits, with more than half of shoppers (56 per cent) saying they are doing less shopping than this time last year.