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Friday, 1 March 2013
Satisfied Shoppers Crown NZ’s Top Retailers
Roy Morgan Research last night revealed the winners of its 2nd annual Customer Satisfaction Awards for Retail at a gala dinner in Auckland.

In the highly competitive Retail category, customer satisfaction is of paramount importance, a core defence against the rise of international online-only stores.

New Zealanders spent over $5 billion online in 2012. Store retailers need to offer things not available on the web, and chief amongst these is personal service—a key factor in customer satisfaction, recommendation and loyalty.

Throughout 2012, Roy Morgan Research surveyed over 12,000 consumers across New Zealand. These Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award-winners managed to build and maintain a customer focus in a tough marketplace and outdo their industry competitors.

Kirkcaldie & Stains wins 2012 Department Store of the Year

The Department Store category saw a neck-and-neck race between two iconic Kiwi brands, Ballantynes and Kirkcaldie & Stains. Ballantynes’ flagship store in Christchurch was badly damaged by the earthquake and closed for eight months. The store adapted its business by increasing its online offerings and organised bus trips to the Timaru store to service their customers. However 2011 winner Kirkcaldie & Stains wasn’t about to let the title go, providing online services with free delivery while satisfying their core market of shoppers.

The Mill Liquorsave wins 2012 Liquor Store of the Year

Liquorland, Local Liquor, Liquor King, Super Liquor – but it was The Mill Liquorsave that rose above in 2012. From its first monthly win in June with 90% satisfaction, the Mill kept climbing: to 91% in August, 92% in September, 93% in November and 94% in December.

Amcal wins 2012 Pharmacy of the Year

Customer satisfaction is central to the pharmacy category. Who would return to a chemist after a dissatisfying experience? Pharmacies need to be approachable and trustworthy to receive a high level of customer satisfaction, and Amcal above all others earned the prize with 10 monthly wins in 2012.

Dick Smith wins 2012 Furniture/Electrical Store of the Year

Over four in five New Zealanders aged 14+ rate price as an important factor when visiting an electrical goods store—so it’s no surprise competition in the category is intense. However on customer satisfaction there was one store that dominated, winning 11 out of the 12 months.

Hallensteins wins 2012 Clothing Store of the Year

New Zealanders spent over $405 million on online fashion in the past year. The intense competition in fashion retail reflects in the close race for customer satisfaction – the closest in 2012. Jeans West started the year on a winning streak, but Hallensteins came home strong, culminating in a 95% satisfaction rating in December.

Starbucks wins 2012 Coffee Shop of the Year

With local cafes out of the running due to small sample sizes, this category pits the big chains against each other. Last year’s winner Muffin Break started off strong, but Starbucks then took eight months straight. A late surge from Robert Harris Café could see it the one to beat in 2013.

ITM wins 2012 Hardware Store of the Year

Bunnings, the incumbent champ, won the first four months, but Kiwi favourite ITM turned the tables and took out the remaining eight. ITM focused on winning over serious tradespeople, and are strong supporters of sports and outdoor activities, sponsoring the eponymous Cup and Fishing Show and V8 Supercars.

Take Note wins 2012 Music/Book Store of the Year

Paper Plus has expanded into the domain of ebooks and ereaders, but Take Note can’t exactly make stationery and instead has focused on local roots and a proudly customer-centric attitude. But it was a close race, and Paper Plus is in pole position coming into 2013.

Overland wins 2012 Shoe Store of the Year

Satisfy employees and they’ll satisfy your customers! Overland was voted New Zealand’s best workplace in November. Overland and second-placing Hannahs both have a strong online presence combined with dozens of stores across the country catering to both men and women.

Hunting and Fishing wins 2012 Sport Store of the Year

There were three candidates in the Sports Store category, but only one contender: Hunting and Fishing made a clean sweep of the year – the only store in any category to do so.

Pip Elliott, General Manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ, says:

“The current annual 2.7% growth rate in retail sales is well below the long term average. With competing pressure from online, it is vital for retailers to satisfy every one of those customers who visit their stores.
“Now in only its second year, these Awards are already recognised as currency in many industries, being the most accurate and trusted indicators of customer satisfaction in New Zealand.
“By integrating customer satisfaction measures with our world-leading Single Source survey of over 12,000 Kiwis, we offer businesses incomparable research into just how satisfied their customers are and areas where they could improve.
“Roy Morgan Research congratulates not only the winners but all successful businesses, large and small, that consistently aim to satisfy their customers.”

To visit the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards website, click here. The website monitors the movement in customer satisfaction for a number of businesses over different industries.
To purchase any number of Roy Morgan’s Satisfied and Dissatisfied Customer Profiles, click here. These profiles are an in-depth analysis of customers who have indicated they are either satisfied or dissatisfied with a particular business.
Please click on this link to the Roy Morgan Online Store.

About Roy Morgan Research:
Roy Morgan Research is the largest independent Australian and New Zealand research company, with offices also in the United States, United Kingdom, and Indonesia. A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has more than 70 years’ experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers.
Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

ENDS

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