Trader Joe’s, Wegmans Among Highest in Customer Loyalty

Admired brands such as USAA, Amazon.com, Costco, Virgin America, Apple, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans enjoy some of the highest customer loyalty.

That’s according to a study, 2012 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarks, by Satmetrix for the financial services, insurance, online services, retailing, technology, telecommunications, and travel and hospitality industries. This year’s study was expanded to reach more than 30,000 U.S. consumers, with ratings for more than 200 brands across 22 industry sectors. This year’s study includes new coverage for auto service and repair, drug stores and pharmacies, hardware and home supply stores, hotels and travel websites.

The Satmetrix Net Promoter Benchmarks are based on survey responses from U.S. consumers nationwide who rate their experience with the primary brands they use. The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, for each brand is based on customers’ likelihood to recommend the company’s product or service in the sector being rated.

“Net Promoter has become the industry standard for customer experience management because it correlates strongly with organic growth in most industries,” said Deborah Eastman, general manager of consulting at Satmetrix. “The annual benchmark is an important guidepost for executives to understand which brands are truly winning the loyalty of American consumers.”

The study encompassed 22 specific competitive sectors across seven major industry groups.

Specialty grocers earned some of the highest Net Promoter Scores in the overall study, with Trader Joe’s and Wegmans tied at 73 percent in the grocery and supermarkets sector. Among major department, wholesale and specialty retailers, Costco took top honors again this year with an NPS of 71 percent. New additions Belk and Nordstrom also did well, both earning an NPS of 66 percent. Echoing its financial woes, Sears trailed among department stores with an NPS of 35 percent. In the drug store and pharmacy sector, Walmart Pharmacy led with an NPS of 40 percent.

Net Promoter has been embraced by leading companies worldwide as the standard for measuring and improving customer loyalty. Satmetrix is the leading provider of cloud-based customer experience software for companies worldwide.