LONDON: John Lewis is the shoppers' favourite store now, according to a new market research report. The upmarket store has dislodged Ikea, which has been reigning at No 1 position in the consumer satisfaction index compiled by MR firm Verdict Research. The Swedish furniture retailer is now at No 5.
John Lewis rose from last year's No 2 position, while its sister concern, supermarket store Waitrose, got the second place. Fashion accessories store TK Maxx got to the third position (from fourth) and Matalan came fourth from No 10 earlier.
Senior analyst at Verdict Nick Gladding said shoppers appeared to have become a little bit fatigued by the experience at Ikea. He said the store has a lot of queuing and is often congested, especially on weekends.
Ikea had recently announced that it is implementing a revamping programme at its stores and is changing focus to city centres, away from out-of-town stores. Verdict said this, along with online ordering, which the retailer is going to enlarge, may ease the congestion and crowds at the stores
Verdict said John Lewis, at No 2 position for three years, has risen to the top for its product knowledge and the advice offered by its staff. There is no equal in terms of customer service, it said.
The growing demand for online retail facilities is evident in Amazon.com's ascent from No 14 to No 6.
Verdict interviewed 6,000 customers assessing where they shopped most frequently. They were asked to rate the stores in terms of range, price, convenience, quality, service, ambience, facilities and layout. Its list contained 67 retailers on the basis of merit.
The top 10 stores (figure in brackets shows position last year): SHOPS
1. John Lewis (2), 2. Waitrose (20), 3. TK Maxx (4), 4. Matalan (10), 5. Ikea (1), 6. Amazon (14), 7. Savers (39), 8. Schuh (31), 9. Wilkinson (23) and 10. B&Q (7).
Market leader Tesco, which is estimated to take one pound in every three spent on groceries in the country, failed to make the grade. In spite of its clout and reach, the retail chain fell to the 33 position indicating it is failing to win hearts and minds of its customers. It is even behind Morrisons, Asda and Boots.
Gladding said Tesco is extremely good at what it does, but people see it as a bit of a "omnipotent retailer".
Gladding said few people tended to enjoy shopping at supermarkets. Asda is ranked 18 out of 69, Morrisons came in at 32 and Sainsbury's was 54th. Waitrose at No 2 is the highest ranked supermarket.
Posted
on : Mon, 23 Jan 2006 08:40 GMT | Business News
By : Salim Patel
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