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Survey says: Nordstrom is consumers' favorite fashion retailer

The study also revealed that Foot Locker is consumers' favorite shoe retailer, followed by Skechers, Nike, DSW and Famous Footwear.

January 28, 2015

Findings from a national consumer study by Market Force Information have revealed that Nordstrom is consumers’ favorite fashion retailer for the third consecutive year, followed by Kohl’s, T.J. Maxx, Macy’s and Dillard’s. The study also revealed that Foot Locker is consumers’ favorite shoe retailer, followed by Skechers, Nike, DSW and Famous Footwear.

More than 4,300 consumers nationwide were polled for the study in December 2014, which was designed to uncover consumers’ favorite fashion and shoe retailers, and factors that drive satisfaction and loyalty.

Market Force asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their most recent fashion retailer experience, and their likelihood to refer that retailer to others. The results were averaged to attain a Composite Loyalty Score. Nordstrom, known for delivering exceptional customer service, ranked first among the retailers studied. Kohl’s was second, and T.J. Maxx ranked third, moving up two spots from the previous study’s rankings.

Market Force’s study results showed that fashion retail brands are highly competitive and difficult to differentiate, so executing well on a number of attributes is critical to winning wallet share. The company identified four key areas that a retailer must execute on to achieve overall customer satisfaction: Merchandising (selection, choice, ease of finding items, value for money spent), Environmental Consciousness (corporate sustainability/green practices, non-synthetic fibers, information on country where merchandise was produced), Just For Me (opportunities to share fashion ideas, style information ability to customize merchandise, access to exclusive merchandise, etc.) and Store Operations (speed of checkout, overall atmosphere of store). When retailers execute well in all four areas, the percent of highly satisfied customers increases five times — from 17 percent to 86 percent.

To better understand how well fashion retail brands are executing in those four important areas, Market Force asked consumers to rank the performance of their favorite fashion retailer during their most recent visit. Nordstrom scored highest in two of the four categories: Merchandising and Just For Me. H&M ranked in the top two in three of the categories, including Environmental Consciousness (first), Just For Me (second) and Store Operations (second). Dillard’s, T.J. Maxx, Ross Stores and Macy’s also landed in the top three in at least one area.

Twenty-eight percent of study participants indicated they had shopped on their favorite retailer’s website in the past 90 days. Of those, just 46 percent were delighted with their experience, leaving more than half (54 percent) of consumers who were less than very satisfied. When broken out by fashion retailer brand, Nordstrom.com shoppers were the most satisfied at 56 percent, resulting in a 72-percent conversion rate. Dillard’s, Old Navy, Kohl’s and Ross Stores rounded out the top five.

In order to understand which shoe retailer was seeing the most traffic, Market Force asked consumers to name the shoe retailers they had visited in the past six months. Payless Shoes rose to the top, followed by DSW, Famous Footwear, Shoe Carnival and Nike. However, the number of visits does not necessarily translate into satisfaction and favorites. Based on the Composite Loyalty Score, Payless shoes was the sixth-favorite retailer, preceded by some brands that did not appear in the recent visits rankings.

When it comes to mobile apps, the majority of consumers (67 percent) were unaware if their favorite fashion retailer offered a mobile app. Of the 25 percent who were aware of their favorite fashion retailer’s app, more than half (52 percent) had used it. Target has the highest mobile app adoption rate, followed by H&M, Walmart, Nordstrom and Kohl’s. Consumers are primarily using their favorite retailer’s mobile app to check prices (75 percent), receive promotions or discounts (62 percent), browse merchandise (59 percent), check merchandise availability (41 percent) and purchase items (39 percent).