Who Are the Top U.S. Grocers for Customer Experience and Loyalty?

Market Force study pinpoints food retailers garnering highest consumer spend

3/13/2024

Pearland, Texas, USA - March 1, 2022: A H-E-B supermarket store in Pearland, Texas, USA. H-E-B Grocery Company, LP is an American supermarket chain.; Shutterstock ID 2243511155

H-E-B topped Market Force's Consumer Preference Index, which looked at spending and loyalty across more than 40 grocery brands.

In a food retail era still punctuated by high prices and changing consumer demand, today’s shoppers are focusing not only on pricing and promotions, but also convenience, cleanliness and merchandise variety. A new study from Market Force is taking a deeper look at those consumer preferences, including which grocers are meeting their expectations.

Market Force’s Consumer Preference Index looked at spending across more than 40 grocery brands, with H-E-B, Fry’s, King Soopers, Brookshire Grocery and Food Lion receiving the highest proportion of spend, respectively.

As for loyalty, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Publix, ALDI and Sam's Club ranked highest.

Market Force notes the obvious discrepancy between share of wallet and loyalty, sharing that consumers shopping with the companies who have garnered the highest amount of loyalty still spread their grocery dollars around with other grocers.

Looking at customer experience, Wegmans, Publix, Trader Joe's, H-E-B and Sam's Club all received high marks in a number of experience categories, including cashier courtesy, store cleanliness, ease of finding items, checkout speed and more. Market Force says that for these grocers, shopping experience clearly drives stated loyalty.

Finally, the company looked at brand image and company values, with Trader Joe's, H-E-B, Grocery Outlet and Amazon Fresh topping that category.

San Antonio-based H-E-B has more than 430 stores and is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Fry's and King Soopers are part of the Cincinnati-based Kroger family, which is No. 4 on The PG 100. Brookshire Grocery operates more than 200 store locations and is No. 63 on the PG 100. Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion operates more than 1,100 stores. Its parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is No. 10 on the list. With more than 500 stores, Monrovia-based Trader Joe’s is No. 27 on The PG 100. Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans operates 110 stores and is No. 37 on the list. Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix has close to 1,300 supermarkets and is No. 12 on The PG 100. With about 2,200 stores, Batavia, Ill.-based ALDI U.S. is No. 24. Sam’s Club, a division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc., operates nearly 600 clubs. Walmart U.S. is No. 1.