Move Over, Trader Joe’s — This Texas Chain Is 2020’s Best-Loved Grocery Store
When you think of cult-favorite grocery stores, don’t you think of Trader Joe’s? Its affordable, store-brand products, cheeky copy, and friendly (sometimes borderline too friendly), Hawaiian shirt-clad cashiers inspire more passion than the average grocery store. But this year, another store has taken Trader Joe’s crown, at least according to a new survey.
The store in question is H-E-B, a Texas supermarket chain originally from San Antonio. It also has a few locations in northeast Mexico. In a nationwide survey by customer data science company Dunn Humby, H-E-B scored highest among grocery stores on the “customer preference index,” which Trader Joe’s had won for the past two years.
Though H-E-B is a local company without the wide reach of Trader Joe’s (let alone Amazon or Costco, which also made the survey’s top ten), that may be exactly why it’s so well-liked.
“One of the most important findings is that leading traditional regional grocers are experiencing a resurgence in customer preference, by winning with relevance and convenience,” said Jose Gomes, Dunn Humby’s President of North America in a press release.
“If they can compete on price and quality — the value core for grocers — they are especially well-positioned to fend off the growing threat of non-traditional players. This also leaves them better insulated against an economic downturn. In the end, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to winning in this market, and retailers with Customer First strategies are most likely to fare best.”
The survey polled 7,000 households about the 60 largest grocery retailers in the United States. Stores were rated in seven criteria: “price, quality, digital, operations, convenience, discounts/rewards and speed.” Here are the rest of its top-ranking stores:
2) Trader Joe’s
3) Amazon
4) Market Basket
5) Wegmans Food Markets
6) Costco
7) Aldi
8) Sam’s Club
9) Walmart
10) Publix
11) WinCo Foods
12) Fresh Thyme
13) Sprouts Farmers Markets
14) ShopRite
Next time we’re in Texas, we look forward to seeing what H-E-B is all about.