Regional Grocers Have the Greatest Cheerleaders

2/20/2020

Regional grocers were the most likely to be recommended by shoppers to friends or colleagues, according to a recent Bain & Co. study

Global management consulting firm Bain & Co.’s latest "Advocacy in Retail" study, conducted with research firm ROIRocket, surveyed more than 14,000 grocery shoppers in the United States, examining how likely they were to recommend grocers to a friend or colleague.

More than three dozen national and regional grocery chains were assessed in this way, and the regional players came out on top.

Texas staple H-E-B came in first, with a net promoter score of 69; Idaho-based discounter WinCo came in second, with 58; New York-based Wegmans came in third, at 54; and Florida-based Publix rounded out the top four, with 52.

Many strategic actions tie together H-E-B, WinCo, Wegmans and Publix, and Progressive Grocer sister brand Chain Store Age illustrates these in "Expert Opinion: How Regional Grocers Can Win Against the Odds."

With 400 stores in Texas and Mexico, San Antonio-based H-E-B is No. 6 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States. Boise, Idaho-based WinCo Foods, which operates 127 stores in nine states and employs 20,000 associates, is No. 17 on the Super 50 list . Family-owned Wegmans, based in Rochester, N.Y., is a 100-store supermarket chain and is No. 16, while Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets has 1,239 stores and is No. 4 on the list of the top grocers in the United States.