Free Subscription

  • Access daily briefings and unlimited news articles

Premium

Only $39.95 per year
  • Quarterly magazine and digital
  • Indepth executive interviews
  • Unlimited news and insights
  • Expert opinion and analysis

Foodland tops the big five supermarkets

FoodlandSAIndependent supermarket chain Foodland has scored a 94.4 per cent customer satisfaction rating to make it the top performer among the big five supermarkets, according to the latest research by Roy Morgan.

According to the “Retail Satisfaction Report”, Foodland was also one of two supermarkets to have increased its satisfaction rating over the last year, with an increase of 0.6 per cent.

The study, which is based on over 12,000 interviews per annum with main grocery buyers, showed Aldi gained 92.3 per cent satisfaction, Woolworths 90.0 per cent, Coles 88.4 per cent and IGA 84.7 per cent.

The recent study also showed Woolworths is ahead of Coles on customer loyalty. Of the two major supermarkets, Woolworths main shoppers spend 70.9 per cent with them, compared to Coles main shoppers who spend 67.4 per cent. Foodland shoppers are narrowly ahead with 71.0 per cent spent at Foodland. Aldi is well behind the other four supermarkets, with only a 55.5 per cent share of their customers spend.

Foodland Roy Morgan
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). 6 months ended August 2016, n= 6,076; 6 months ended August 2017, n= 6,363. Base: Australians 14+ main grocery buyer

Over the last 12 months, IGA showed the biggest improvement in the share of their customers spend (up 4.7 per cent points), followed by Coles (up 2.9 per cent points) and Foodland (up 1.8 per cent points). Those showing declines were Aldi down 3.1 per cent points and Woolworths (down 0.5 per cent points).

According to Roy Morgan, in order to understand more about what drives overall supermarket satisfaction, it is important to measure satisfaction levels within the various supermarket sections or major product areas.

Foodland is the overall satisfaction leader and scores the highest satisfaction of the big five for ‘dairy’, ’delicatessen’ ,‘fresh fruits 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 wasn’t the best performer in any major product area or section.

“With increasingly tough competition among supermarkets, it is important to keep track of what customers think in terms of relative satisfaction between the major brands,” said Norman Morris, Industry Communications director, Roy Morgan Research.

“This research has shown that not only is overall satisfaction important but it is necessary to understand how the different sections or departments are performing due to their potential impact on overall satisfaction and customer loyalty.”

Foodland Roy Morgan2
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). 6 months ended August 2016, n= 6,076; 6 months ended August 2017, n= 6,363. Base: Australians 14+ main grocery buyer

“There appears to be plenty of scope to increase supermarket sales if customer loyalty can be improved,” Morris said.

Morris said currently the best performers in the market are only achieving 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,” he said. “This is evident by the fact that over the last five years, all of the top five supermarkets have seen a decline in the share of their customers spend, despite various attempts at loyalty programs.”

This story was first published on Inside Retail.

You have 3 free articles.