Ocado has leapfrogged Aldi, M&S and Waitrose to become the supermarket with the highest customer service ranking, according to a new index from the Institute of Customer Service.
The online grocer increased its score significantly in the institute’s Customer Satisfaction Index, with a rating of 85.8 – 4.1 points above sector average and 6.1 points higher than a year ago.
M&S Food was the highest-ranked supermarket when the index was last published, in January. Aldi came highest among its rivals in July 2021.
Waitrose – from which Ocado split in September 2020 – came second in the latest biannual survey of 10,000 consumers across 13 industry sectors. M&S Food came in third, followed by discounters Aldi and Iceland.
The index found that across all supermarkets, customer satisfaction is higher than it was a year ago, and the sector continues to score higher than the all-sector average.
“The reality this year is that all the supermarkets have done well relative to other businesses,” said ICS communications director David Dagger. “All their scores have risen or stayed the same year on year and all sit above the national all-sector average.”
Non-food retail was the highest rated of the 13 sectors examined by the ICS.
Half of the 10 highest-rated organisations in the latest index come from the food and non-food retail sectors, namely: John Lewis, M&S, Ocado, Waitrose and Apple.
The top-rated organisations in all sectors in the July index were UK Power Networks, Timpson, John Lewis, Tesco Mobile, Suzuki, M&S (non-food), Ocado, Waitrose, Apple and First Direct.
Across all sectors, the number of customers experiencing service issues has risen to its highest level since records began in 2008, with 17.3% of UK customers having experienced a product or service problem.
Complaints handling costs UK businesses £9.24bn every month in lost staff time, the ICS calculates.
“Many businesses are already struggling to deliver consistent levels of service hampered by staff shortages, supply issues and geopolitical upheaval,” said ICS CEO Jo Causon. “Organisations cannot avoid these issues. They will need to develop service strategies that are responsive to evolving customer needs but also protect short and long-term business performance.”
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