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Best Retail Customer Experiences 2010 winners announced

More than 1,000 consumers voted on the best retail experiences in eight segments and across multiple attributes.

August 17, 2010 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

In the months since we last researched and published a document called "The Best Retail Customer Experiences," the realm of retail has changed in ways that few anticipated and fewer still enjoyed.

Even the casual observer could tell that something serious was in the wind when food marketers stopped pitching luxurious ready-to-eat meals and instead extolled the virtues of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup; when the world’s biggest retailer’s biggest selling point was the low per-child cost of feeding a family using their plain-white-box products; or even when game manufacturers talked up their $5 board games as a family-friendly alternative to going out to the movies.

Money got tight, quickly, and people adjusted. Many of them are still adjusting, and even though things are looking up, we are still in a recession as of this writing.

But people still need things. They still need clothes to go to work, cars, and of course, food for themselves and their families. What is different now — and many pundits say this is going to remain the case, even after the greenbacks are freely flowing again — is that people are being more deliberate about how they are spending their money. Not only are they watching how much value they get for each dollar spent, they are discovering the value in the relationships they have with their retailers. Loyalty, in the broadest sense of that word, is becoming more important than ever.

All of this makes it a good time to introduce the latest edition of "The Best Retail Customer Experiences" report. We surveyed 1,200 consumers, across all demographic groups, and asked them to rate retailers in eight categories. The ratings included four attributes: Customer service, online experience, inventory and aesthetics; we also asked consumers to give a rating on their overall customer experience.

The winners are highlighted in this book. They are in different industries and excel in different ways from one another, but what they have in common is an emotional bond with their customers, as well as an understanding that while price is important to customers, it's not the most important thing. In fact, a recent report from American Express found that 61 percent of American shoppers are willing to pay more for a product if they receive excellent service.

It goes against conventional wisdom to say that people are willing to pay a premium for a great experience during the worst recession since World War II, but they are. That’s what makes an emphasis on customer experience so important — and what makes the eight winners in this survey such stand-out companies.

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