Retailer satisfaction

No one says shopping needs to be fun, but it shouldn’t be an exercise in salesperson avoidance. We reveal which retailers rate best for customer satisfaction, based on our members’ purchases made at 32 stores over the past year.

When we give up our hard-earned cash, the shopping experience should be pleasant – or painless at the very least. Staff should know their onions, but not apply too much pressure. We want a good deal, but not at the expense of stellar support if our purchase turns out to be a dud.

Unfortunately, that’s too much to ask for many retail chains, according to our latest member satisfaction survey. Some stores, such as The Warehouse, spread themselves too thin and don’t excel in any area. Other specialists, such as PlaceMakers and Specsavers, only have one job to do but still fall short.

However, our members identified some stores worth dusting off your wallet for: 100% Appliances and the Apple Store top multiple categories, while Beds R Us and Kitchen Things stood out in their respective niches.

About our survey

A big thanks to our members who provided information on more than 13,000 purchases made at 32 stores over the past year. Stores were rated for overall satisfaction, as well as measures such as product range and price, point-of-sale and after-sale service. We also asked how people perceived retailers and why they bought from the shops they did. Finally, we gathered data on the purchase itself, including whether it was discounted and whether an extended warranty was offered.

We only analysed retailers that received at least 30 responses in a category. We used a 0- to 10-point scale, where a score of eight or higher corresponded to “very satisfied” or “strongly agree”. Only statistically significant results are highlighted in our tables. Retailers are marked as above (green) or below (red) average. More responses for a brand means better confidence in the numbers, making significance more likely.

GUIDE TO THE TABLES OUR SURVEY was conducted in October 2018. Numbers in brackets show how many purchases were reported in the survey. Only retailers with 30 or more sales were analysed.