The top grocers for brand image, company value are ...

A new survey shows which grocers are preferred by consumers in categories including brand image, customer experience, online ordering and more.

Consumers rated Trader Joe’s, H-E-B and Grocery Outlet as tops in brand image and company value, with the three grocers receiving approximately a 77% approval rating from customers, according to a survey of 5,173 consumers by Market Force. 

Sprouts Farmers Market (73%), Amazon Fresh (72.5%) and Publix (68.4%) all received strong ratings as well. Walmart (12.8%), Fry’s (10.5%) and Amazon Fresh (10%) had the highest disapproval ratings when it comes to brand image and company value.

Wegmans, Publix, Trader Joe’s, H-E-B and Sam’s Club ranked the best in terms of customer experience, while Walmart, Jewel Osco and Von’s were at the bottom of the list. Factors for a positive shopping experience included cashier courtesy, store cleanliness, ease of finding the items, checkout speed, service from specialty departments and availability of items.

However,  Walmart (23%)  ranked as the most popular primary grocer, followed by Aldi (11.3%), Kroger (10.2%) and Costco (9%). Respondents said the most important factors in choosing which store to shop were convenience (61.7%), good sales and promotions (48.3%), value received for money paid (42.9%) and a good loyalty or rewards program (40.4%). 

Cleanliness, variety of merchandise, high quality produce and fast checkout also ranked among the top factors.

Overall, 66.2% of respondents said they are satisfied with the grocery pickup services they use, compared to 61.9% who are satisfied with grocery delivery services. Nearly seven-in-10 (68.8%) of those surveyed said they use grocery websites and mobile apps for shopping. Finding coupons (44.4%) was the most popular reason for using apps and websites, followed by comparing prices and availability to other grocers (26.9%) and placing an online order (26.3%).

When considering switching to a new grocery store, survey respondents reported better quality produce, better prepared meals, better private label brands, and better quality meat and/or fish as the top reasons. To increase visit frequency to their current primary, secondary or tertiary grocers, better service (9.6%), more promotions and offers (9.6%) and better price and value (9.2%) were named as the chief factors.