Shoppers liked supermarkets a little more last year, but department stores and specialty retailers are sliding in esteem.
The annual American Customer Satisfaction Index for retailers came out recently and consumer sentiment seems to reflect the current state of the retail business as names including Sears, Macy’s and The Gap are struggling to bring back customers, while Amazon continues to lead the pack.
The ongoing shakeout of retail was the subject of this week’s Columbus Business First cover story. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based ACSI puts a little more data toward those issues.
The overall industry rating dropped 0.3 percent to a score of 78.1 on the organization’s 100-point scale. But that drop comes after a paradoxical all-time high score last year for retail as a whole.
By segment, supermarkets grew 1.3 percent to a record score of 79. Drug stores also improved. Gas stations were flat, and the other three segments that are measured – department/discount, specialty retail and online – all declined year over year.
The brick-and-mortar operators were downgraded for being less convenient, less clean, offering fewer discounts and with the checkout process being the biggest complaint. Internet retail remains the most satisfying category of the six measured with a score of 82, but that measure dropped by 1.2 percent in 2017.
Customer support and shipping options were the biggest shopper issues.
Publix supermarket is the highest scoring brand among the 75 in the survey with a score of 86, up 2 percent from 2017. Walmart, as a discounter, scored lowest at 71, though its health/pharmacy and supermarket ratings were higher.
Companies of local note include:
- L Brands Inc. (NYSE:LB) (Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works), which tied with Amazon and Trader Joe’s for the second highest score at 85 and lead all specialty retailers. That’s a 5 percent increase from 2017, which also was the largest year-over-year improvement. ACSI credited in-store improvements and renovations.
- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) rose 4 percent to 79 good for eighth among the 25 specialty retailers measured. Improvements to both stores and overall image were the reasons cited there.
- Ascena Retail Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ASNA) (including Central Ohio-based Justice and Lane Bryant) improved 1 percent to a 79.
- Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR), which improved 3 percent to an 81, good for eighth among supermarkets.
- Big Lots Inc. (NYSE:BIG), which dropped 4 percent to 74, ranking 15th of 18 department/discount stores.
You can see the full report here (registration required).