Wegmans rated top retailer in customer satisfaction

With rising food prices, customer satisfaction with supermarkets is at its lowest point in more than a decade.

The lone exception? Gates-based Wegmans, which is celebrating its 100th year in business.

The new American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report released Tuesday revealed that Wegmans was the only supermarket in the country — and one of only three retailers across all categories – to improve its rating score.

Not only did Wegmans, which operates an 88-store chain, take the top spot among supermarkets with an 86 score on a 100-point scale, it was the highest-scoring retailer in the ACSI survey. The Wegmans score is up one notch from a year ago.

Overall customer satisfaction at supermarkets went down nearly 4 percentage points to 73.

Rounding out the Top Five supermarkets: Trader Joe’s, which tied Wegmans for the top spot last year but fell two points to an 83, H-E-B (82), Publix (82) and Aldi (81). Whole Foods dropped 10 percent to a 73.

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“According to customers, the supermarket experience has eroded across nearly every element compared with a year ago,’’ the report said.

Results were based on interviews with 9,358 customers selected at random and conducted by email between November and December 2015.

The categories were department and discount stores, health and personal care stores, specialty retail, supermarkets, gas stations and Internet shopping. Retailers were graded on factors such as location, hours, cleanliness, quality and freshness of products, websites, staff knowledge and helpfulness.

Aside from Wegmans, only gas stations improved in customer satisfaction, because of lower fuel prices, the report said.

Among department stores, Nordstrom (82) and Dillard’s (80) were 1-2. Sears (71) and Walmart (66) were at the bottom.

Wegmans celebrates 100 years in business

Fortune magazine consistently ranks Wegmans as one of the America’s best companies to work for. In addition, Consumer Reports has named Wegmans best overall supermarket chain and a Harris Poll last year revealed the chain was No. 1 for reputation, above companies such as Apple and Google.

The ACSI data appears to show that customer satisfaction peaked in the years following the Great Recession as retailers stepped up their game with better prices and service to win over more discerning consumers.

“But as recovery settles in and economic conditions start to look more optimistic, that honeymoon is over and the recent declines in retail customer satisfaction begin to look more like an adjustment rather than a tailspin,’’ the report said.

Every Web retailer declined in score, including e-commerce giant Amazon (83, down from 86).

“Internet retail overall declines 2.4 percent to 80, but consumers still prefer online shopping compared to traditional store experiences,’’ the report said.

LROTH@Gannett.com