The latest survey on South African’s satisfaction levels concerning the supermarkets available, reveals that customers remain pretty stoked with what they have.

At least that’s the data that came out of a random selection of around 3 000 customers.

Research company Consulta reached out to customers of supermarkets including Woolworths, Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, and Spar, and created an index from ratings related to “customer expectations, perceived quality, and perceived value to achieve an overall result out of 100,” reports Business Insider.

Here’s what the research found:

With a substantially higher score than the industry average of 76.2, Woolworths achieved the most satisfied customers with a score of 82.1 on the index and is the only supermarket with a marked increase compared to its 2015 average of 80.7.

Checkers, with a score of 77.2, and Pick n Pay at 76.5 both remained above average while Shoprite and Spar trailed with scores of 75.5 and 75.2 respectively.

But while these 3 000 customers might appear generally happy and satisfied, there’s one thing they aren’t too good at, and that is being loyal:

Overall customer loyalty decreased from 76.4 in 2015 to 74.2 in 2016, yet Woolworths held steady with the most loyal customers and a score of 77.3 followed by Shoprite (74.9), Pick n Pay (74.6), Spar (73.5) and then Checkers (72.5).

CEO of Consulta, professor Adré Schreuder, suggests this is because:

In tough economic times, the price of goods is likely to influence consumers’ loyalty even though they are satisfied customers.

But price-motivated ‘loyalty’ is not permanent so while customers may display less brand loyalty now, supermarkets cannot afford to stop investing in positive shopping experiences.

Another related study, conducted by Nielsen, showed that customers’ reason for selecting a supermarket is influenced by “convenience of location (71%), speed (61%), high-quality fresh produce (71%) and product availability (68%) more so than price (56%) and promotions (56%),” explains Business Tech.

If those 3 000 people had to go to the Woolworths in Somerset West just once, the general satisfaction levels with the rest of the Woolies in this country would drop down a few notches.

Seriously, do yourself a favour. It’s amazing. They have a florist, for crying out loud.

[source:businesstech]