Foodland leads supermarket satisfaction

By Retail World Editor

New research from Roy Morgan shows that customer satisfaction with Foodland in August 2017 was 94.4 per cent, making it the top performer among the big-five supermarkets.

Foodland was also one of only two supermarkets to increase satisfaction over the last year, with an increase of 0.6 percentage points.

The latest findings come from Roy Morgan Research’s ‘Retail Satisfaction Report – Supermarkets’, which is based on more than 12,000 yearly interviews with main grocery buyers.

Foodland and ALDI beat the big two for satisfaction

Foodland with 94.4 per cent satisfaction and ALDI on 92.3 per cent, lead Woolworths (90 per cent) and Coles (88.4 per cent). IGA was on 84.7 per cent.

Satisfaction with main supermarket

 

Woolworths ahead of Coles on customer loyalty

Woolworths’ main shoppers spend 70.9 per cent of their total supermarket spend with the retailer, compared with Coles, at which main shoppers spend 67.4 per cent. Foodland shoppers are narrowly ahead with 71 per cent spent at Foodland. ALDI attracts a 55.5 per cent share of its customers’ spend.

Supermarket customer loyalty (based on proportion of spend at main supermarket)

 

Over the past 12 months, IGA showed the biggest improvement in share of its customers’ spend (up 4.7 percentage points), followed by Coles (up 2.9 points) and Foodland (up 1.8 points). Those showing declines were ALDI, down 3.1 points and Woolworths, down 0.5 points).

Supermarket satisfaction differs by product areas

Foodland is the overall satisfaction leader and scores the highest satisfaction of the big five for dairy, delicatessen, fresh fruit and vegetables, and fresh seafood. ALDI leads in satisfaction with packaged groceries, while Coles and Woolworths lead jointly in satisfaction with bread.

IGA had the lowest overall satisfaction of the big five and was not the best performer in any major product area or section.

“With increasingly tough competition among supermarkets, it’s important to keep track of what customers think in terms of relative satisfaction between the major brands,” Roy Morgan Research Industry Communications Director Norman Morris said. “This research has shown that not only is overall satisfaction important, but it is also necessary to understand how the different sections or departments are performing due to their potential impact on overall satisfaction and customer loyalty.

“There appears to be plenty of scope to increase supermarket sales if customer loyalty can be improved. Currently, the best performers in the market are achieving only around 70 per cent of their main customers’ total supermarket spend, with the lowest achieving just over half. Increasing the share of customer spend for the major supermarkets has remained a considerable challenge for some time. This is evident from the fact that, over the past five years, all top-five supermarkets have seen a decline in the share of their customers’ spend, despite various attempts at loyalty programs.”