Bonmarché and John Lewis top high street survey

Fashion chain Bonmarché is sharing top honours with John Lewis in the 2013 Which? High Street Shops survey for the best ‘Clothes, Shoes and Accessories’ retailer on the UK high street. This accolade marks the first top five finish for the clothing

retailer, while the department store fell out of the top five for the first time.

The annual survey, which surveyed more than 11,000 shoppers in February and March about shops they had used in the previous six months, rated each high street store on product range, customer service, store environment and pricing.

Bonmarché, the UK’s largest womenswear value retailer catering for women over 50 years, received three stars across all categories to achieve a top Customer Score of 79 percent and was recognised by shoppers for offering “enjoyable shopping with friendly and helpful staff, and good-quality fashionable products” according to Which?.

However, the retail chain will not be able to name itself a Which? Recommended Provider as it only received three stars for customer service, that honour in the ‘Clothes, Shoes and Accessories’ category this year only went to John Lewis and Fenwick, which was ranked third in the list.

Even though John Lewis was ranked outside the overall top five for the first time in joint seventh place, the department store did receive success across numerous categories. The store was named the number one department store, best for furniture and homeware, the winner in the gardening and DIY category, and came second in the electricals, outdoor and leisure and baby and child categories.

John Lewis ranked the best department store

For the third year running John Lewis was named the nations favourite department store, although the retailer’s customer service score did fall slightly from 81 percent last year to 75 percent, which allowed its rivals Fenwick and Selfridges, who took second and third spot respectively, to narrow the gap.

There was hope for BHS, the retailer was the lowest rated department store in 2012, but this year the chain climbed to mid-table in fifth position with a customer score of 69 percent.

The overall accolade for Best High Street Shop went to the Apple Store for the first time, with a customer score of 85 percent, for its “unique look and feel” and praised its “great customer service”, while the bottom of the table was taken up by TK Maxx, EE and WH Smith’s, who came in last place for their “messy” and “expensive” store.

The survey of the top 100 high street stores also noted that consumers are unhappy with the number of retail chains closing this year, with 88 percent saying they don’t like to see high street stalwarts fail and 81 percent worrying about the decline of the high street.

Commenting on the survey, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “With many high street shops struggling to keep afloat during the recession, it’s great to see so many people saying that they are still getting good service.

“Consumers want to support their local stores, but not at any price, so whether they are chains or independent we hope shops do the right thing to keep their customers and hold back the decline of the high street.”

Image: Bonmarché