WASHINGTON — When it comes to shopping for groceries, clothing or pharmacy items, many customers will go out of their way to shop at their preferred retailers — or avoid their least favorite.
Now, one group is using people’s ratings to see which retailers offer the best experience.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index asked people which retailers offered the best experience based on factors such as convenience of location, the quality of the product, courtesy of the staff and the store layout.
The results determined which retailers people disliked the most.
Below are the 10 retailers with the worst customer service, based on ACSI’s category rankings and compiled by 24/7 Wall St. Each retailer’s ACSI customer satisfaction score is in parenthesis.
- Winn-Dixie (77). The Southeast supermarket chain scored low because of weak customer satisfaction scores.
- Supervalu (77). For the fourth year in a row, Supervalu underperformed the supermarket sector in customer satisfaction. Also, employees had generally low opinions of the chain.
- Gap (77). Gap owns a range of different brands, including Old Navy and Banana Republic. While the company recently increased its minimum hourly rate for workers, it still ranked low in the specialty retailer sector.
- Best Buy (77). In recent years, the retailer has gotten a reputation as a “showroom” for products customers will later buy online. Crucial holiday sales are not matching up and indicate that problems remain.
- Safeway (76). Safeway’s score was still well below those of other grocers. Among Safeway’s problems: customers being unsatisfied; many employees have said they are dissatisfied; and many investors have voiced displeasure with management.
- Macy’s (76). Despite positive sales, the company also laid off 2,500 employees as part of its plans to cut costs. Also, employees have given the company weak marks.
- Walgreens (76). Despite it being ranked among the top retailers for customer retention, the customer experience ranking said otherwise.
- CVS (76). CVS continued to underperform the drugstore sector and customers said they were more satisfied when shopping at smaller drugstores.
- Rite Aid (74). Rite Aid’s customer satisfaction was the worst among U.S. drugstore chains last year. Also, employees gave the company a lower rating than its competitors.
- Wal-Mart (71). The retailer the lowest score of any department or discount store and even scored low when graded as a supermarket.
h/t: The Washington Post.
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