Amazon, Publix Top Retail Satisfaction Survey

Customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has not improved since the middle of 2009, and now registers its biggest drop in two years. For the fourth quarter of 2010, the Index fell 0.5 percent to 75.3 on the ACSI’s 0-100 scale.

Here, ACSI reveals its customer satisfaction findings in the retail and e-commerce markets, which includes supermarkets, department and discount stores, specialty retail stores, health and personal care (drug) stores, gasoline service stations, and Internet retail, brokerage and travel web sites.

Customer satisfaction with the retail sector falls 1.6 percent to 75, mostly due to a big drop for gasoline service stations, which plummet 7.9 percent to 70 in the wake of a 20 percent rise in gas prices over the past year. Results for other retail industries are mixed — higher prices on food and other items dampen satisfaction with supermarkets (-1.3 percent to 75) and health and personal care stores (-1.3 percent to 77), while continued aggressive discounting keeps department and discount stores and specialty retailers trending upward for a third straight year. Both industries improve by 1.3 percent to 76 and 78, respectively.

Publix maintains its lead among supermarket chains despite a 2 percent drop to an ACSI score of 84. Publix has led the category every year since 1994. Whole Foods is next, well behind Publix but coming on strong, followed closely by Kroger. Supervalu slips below the industry average, falling 4 percent to 74, tied with Safeway, which improves 3 percent. Wal-Mart is at bottom of the industry, unchanged for the grocery portion of its business.

“While supermarket chains like Publix thrive on the strength of their customer service, Wal-Mart continues to be a place where people shop because of price,” said Fornell. “Service has a strong impact on customer satisfaction, but low prices coupled with low quality do not.”

Smaller drugstore chains lead the health and personal care store category, up 3 percent to an ACSI score of 81. Among the three largest retailers, Walgreen remains in front, followed by Rite Aid. CVS Caremark fell out of a first place tie with Walgreen a year ago and hitting the bottom of the category. Problems with customer service appear to be at the center of the decline. CVS Caremark has cut costs in response to lower revenues throughout 2010, and that too might have had an adverse effect on customer service.

The ACSI score for e-commerce falls 2.6 percent to 79.3, the lowest level since 2004. A 3.6 percent drop to 80 for Internet retail drives the overall decline, but the decline is mostly concentrated in smaller companies. Amazon and Netflix swap places for the lead in retail, with Amazon rising 1 percent to 87 and Neflix dropping 1 percent to 86. Amazon’s score is the highest for any retailer, whether online or brick-and-mortar. Newegg and Overstock are next in line. eBay makes a significant improvement, but not enough to move ahead of any of the larger competitors.

For more of the survey’s finings, including an assessment of the department and discount stores and specialty retailers, visit http://www.theacsi.org.