Marketing - Friday, January 29, 2010 10:24 - 0 Comments

Waitrose tops supermarket satisfaction survey

High quality food retailers Waitrose and Marks and Spencer are providing more efficient customer service than all their other UK counterparts, according to a Which? poll.

Latest UK marketing news reports that Waitrose is the country’s most favoured supermarket, making customers feel more ”happy” than in any other supermarket. According to Marketing Magazine, the supermarket’s only stumbling block was its pricing, which is generally more expensive than its rivals.

Waitrose received an overall customer satisfaction score of 87 per cent in Which’s poll of approximately 11,000 shoppers. Meanwhile, partner company John Lewis also scored exceptionally well in the survey, coming only second to its sister Waitrose.

Other supermarket giants such as Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco did not make it into the top five of the groceries group with customer satisfaction scores considerably lower than Waitrose at between 49 to 58 per cent.

High end retailer Marks and Spencer came second in the groceries category with a commendable score of 64 per cent. This follows on from the retailer having its strongest ever food sales during the run up to Christmas.

Notably, discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl made it into the top ten, reflecting that if the price is right, customers are willing to settle for a ‘no frills’ approach.

Which? Chief Executive, Peter Vicary Smith said: ”It’s not rocket science – customers like retailers that treat them well. The best stores realise that the most important thing they can provide is helpful, well informed staff. Nothing alienates customers more than unfriendly, ignorant shop assistants or worse, not being able to find a member of staff when you need one”.

Mr Vicary Smith also thought it prudent to mention that: ”Unfortunately, several retailers at the bottom of our table haven’t learned their lesson from last year’s survey”.

As well as topping the customer satisfaction survey, Waitrose’s delivery arms Waitrosedeliver.com and Ocado came joint top in the online supermarket section of the survey, showing that the whole John Lewis & Waitrose clan ranks customer service as a top priority.