Amazon best personalizes the shopping experience for its customers, followed by H-E-B and Kroger, according to the Retailer Preference Index, a report to determine how the grocery market individualizes the shopping process from data insights firm dunnhumby. The top three retailers best deliver targeted savings, a localized assortment, and a frictionless shopping experience, according to the company.
The research firm surveyed 10,000 American grocery shoppers and evaluated 65 of the largest retailers that sell everyday food and non-food household essentials.
The retailers with the next highest overall customer preference index scores are Giant Eagle, King Soopers, Meijer, The Giant Company, Target, Fry’s, and Smith’s. Seventy percent of those in the top quartile of the ranking are also in the top quartile for targeted savings, the most important personalization driver.
“With the long-term trend of shoppers across all income brackets demanding lower prices, personalization is an opportunity for grocers to better retain and acquire customers,” said Matt O’Grady, president of dunnhumby for the Americas, in a statement. “The goal of this report is to help retailers improve personalization as a whole – the way customers define it. And because customers define personalization as targeted savings, local assortment, and a frictionless shopping experience, understanding their preferences is key."
Other key findings from the study include:
Retailers in the top quartile outperform the rest of the retailers on benefits, costs, or both. For top quartile grocery retailers, this translates to a 14 percent increase in shoppers with a strong emotional connection, a 41 percent increase in share of wallet, a 34 percent increase in online visits per month per person, and a 131 percent increase in traffic share in a grocery retailer’s footprint compared to retailers in the third and fourth quartiles.
Smith’s, Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Fry’s, and Giant Eagle offer shoppers the best targeted savings. Forty-five percent of personalization-related grocery retailer outcomes are driven by this personalization tool.
H-E-B, Big Y, Wegmans, Food City, and Schnucks offer the best localized assortment, the second most important driver of personalization. This personalization tool drives 28 percent of personalization-related grocery retailer outcomes.
Amazon, Target, H-E-B, CVS, and Walgreens provide shoppers with the best frictionless experience, the third most important driver of personalization. A frictionless experience drives 27 percent of personalization-related outcomes.
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