John Lewis: top of the shopping pops

The two store chains scored highly on products and customer service although they did not fare as well on price.

Two no-frills grocers, Aldi and Lidl, made it into the top 10, with extremely low prices outweighing poor scores for their shopping experience.

Consumer group Which? surveyed 10,655 members of the public, who ranked JJB Sports bottom of 50 stores surveyed.

Respondents were asked to rate the stores for their products, convenience, customer service, pricing and the shopping experience.

BRITAIN'S MOST POPULAR STORES 1 John Lewis 2 Waitrose 3 Marks & Spencer 4 Local electricals = Waterstone's = Body Shop 7 Aldi 8 Lidl = Jessops 10 Ikea Source: Which?

The steady improvement in Marks & Spencer's fortunes in the past 18 months was reflected by it coming in third in the survey.

The best performer among the big four supermarkets was Sainsbury's, which was ranked at number 12.

Local electrical retailers came in equal fourth with the second highest rating for customer service.

Out of favour

At the other end of the table, JJB Sports came in 50th place.

Also in the relegation zone were Currys.digital(ranked 49) and Somerfield(47).

"There are no surprises at the top of the table as John Lewis and Waitrose continue to excel," said Neil Fowler, editor of Which?

But Mr Fowler said that budget stores such as Aldi and Lidl were increasingly gaining favour with customers at the expense of more established brands such as Boots and WH Smith.

"It's interesting to see some familiar names are at the bottom of the table. Longevity counts for nothing if your customers aren't satisfied."