As the American Customer Satisfaction Index puts it, "signs of the retail apocalypse have not been exaggerated."
The latest customer satisfaction scores show just how bleak the outlook is for brick-and-mortal retailers is, with department and discount stores each dropping a point.
Supermarkets, however, gained a point for an ACSI of 79, nearly a point bigger than the retail sector as a whole.
David VanAmburg |
"The surge in customer satisfaction seen in some supermarkets and health and personal care stores shows how companies are focusing on customer satisfaction as one way to ward off Amazon's push into new retail industries," says David VanAmburg, managing director at ACSI.
Thirteen of 22 supermarkets on the ACSI list saw improvements on their 2016 scores, including Publix, which ruled the roost once again. Publix surged 2 percent to a score of 86, the highest score of any company in the retail category. Trader Joe's was right behind with a score of 85.
"While Trader Joe's was unable to sustain its record-high score from last year, customer satisfaction with the grocer is still extremely high for a brick-and-mortar retailer, on par with Amazon's score in in the internet retail category," VanAmburg says.
Too soon to gauge the effect of Whole Foods' acquisition by Amazon, the company's score remained at 81. For the 13th straight year, Walmart had the lowest score among supermarkets.