Consumers are not happy shopping in stores, especially Walmart's

By George Anderson

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

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Customer satisfaction with brick and mortar retail is down for the first time in four years, according to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), and that could be really bad news if you believe Claes Fornell, chairman and founder of ACSI.

"Although there are several signs that the economy might finally take off, deteriorating customer satisfaction with retail suggests that consumer demand will not be where it needs to be," said Mr. Fornell, in a statement. "This is also reaffirmed by weak sales for most retailers over the holiday season. Unless consumer spending picks up dramatically, we won't see much — if any — increase in the pace of economic recovery."

Customer satisfaction with department and discount stores remained unchanged over the past year, according to ACSI, although the gap between the best- and worst-ranked companies continued to widen. Top rated Nordstrom rose four points to score an 86 on the ACSI scale (77 is average) while Walmart fell the same number to finish with a score of 68, the worst in the category.

Consumer satisfaction with grocery stores took a big hit in the past year, falling 2.6 percent to an ACSI score of 76. Rising food prices were seen as a major contributor to consumer dissatisfaction.

Food prices rose 3.4 percent last year while the Consumer Price Index increased only 0.8 percent. "Even with frequent price discounts, it's difficult for supermarkets to moderate the negative effect of rising food costs, especially when wage growth is weak," said Mr. Fornell.

Trader Joe's and Wegmans topped the list of grocery stores with ACSI scores of 85. Publix, which dropped five points, tied with H-E-B for second at 82. Walmart was also on the bottom of this list with a score of 71.

Consumers were not all that happy shopping in drugstores either. Satisfaction with drugstores fell 2.5 percent to 77 in the latest ACSI research. Small drugstores led the category with an 81 ACSI score. Rite Aid, which improved five percent, increased to 78 and was followed by Walgreens at 77 and CVS at 75. Walmart, once again, brought up the bottom of the list at 68.

So why did the nation's largest retailer consistently grade out so low with consumers?

"They are not as dominant on the price side as they were, and the quality still isn't there," ACSI director David VanAmburg told CBS Moneywatch. "They haven't stepped up their game on that side, so we are seeing a lot of dissatisfaction by comparison.