Trader Joe’s perch at the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has been cleaned out.
The retailer spent the last few years as No. 1 in the grocery sector, but in 2024 Costco, H-E-B, and Publix tied for the top spot in customer satisfaction with scores of 85. H-E-B improved 5% year over year, while Costco and Publix were up 4%. Trader Joe’s is No. 4 with a score of 84.
The ACSI measures and analyzes customer satisfaction with more than 400 companies in over 40 industries and 10 economic sectors. Reported on a scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from interviews with roughly 500,000 shoppers annually.
Publix also stands alone when it comes to staff courtesy, store cleanliness, and layout. Costco and H-E-B were the strongest in terms of value.
Sam’s Club claimed fifth following a score of 83, a 5% improvement year over year. Meijer and ShopRite both had their scores rise the most from 2023 at 7% (80), but stand tied at 11th. Walmart’s score went up 4% but finished last among grocers at 74.
Other notables are BJ’s Wholesale Club, Target, and Whole Foods tied for sixth at 82,, Aldi, 10th at 81, Albertsons, 13th at 78, Hy-Vee, 14th at 78, and Kroger, 16th at 77.
However, for pharmacies Walmart is king, surging 11% year over year to finish No. 1 at 82.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer’s satisfaction gain is supported by strong ratings for key factors like merchandise variety and pharmacy services.
Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy last year, claimed second with a 1% year-over-year improvement (76), Walgreens was third at 75, and CVS lost 1% from 2023 and came in fourth.