The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a gold standard of research about consumer preferences. In its just-released ACSI Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2023-2024, Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) finished last in the Supermarket, Hypermarket, and Online Multimarket categories. It finished tied for first in the Drugstore category. The study was based on questioning 40,264 randomly picked customers. They were contacted via email from January to December 2023. Scores were based on a 0 to 100 scale.
Walmart’s scores were notable because it is America’s largest retailer. It is said that 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of its stores.
Customer Dissatisfaction
The Supermarket category included 20 retailers. The average score for the category was 79, and Walmart’s score was 74. Costco, H-E-B, and Publix led the category, each scoring 85. Supermarket scores were based on store hours, store layout, variety of merchandise, courtesy of staff, store layout, and quality of pharmacy services, among other metrics.
Walmart finished last in the Hypermarket category, which is part of the ACSI’s larger category of General Merchandise Retailers. Among all General Merchandise Retailers, the average score was 77. Walmart scored 73. The leader among hypermarkets was Target with a score of 81. The metrics for this category covered ease of pickup, quality of mobile app, quality of membership programs, convenience of store location, readiness of pickup, and variety of merchandise, among other measures. (See the 10 best alternatives and affordable options to Walmart.)
Walmart finished last in the category of Online Multimarket Retailers, which was part of the larger Online Retail category. The average for the larger category was 80. Walmart scored 76. The leader in Online Multimarket Retailers was Amazon at 83. Metrics in this category included a mobile app, ease of navigation, variety of shipping options, and helpfulness of customer support, among other measures.
Walmart finished tied for first in the Drugstore category, the same as “All Other.” The average score was 77. Walmart’s score was 82. Metrics in this category included a mobile app, friendliness and layout of the store, the ability to provide brand names, the checkout process, and the frequency of sales and promotions, among others.
In the final analysis, poor service may not be a problem. Massive numbers of people continue to shop at Walmart.
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