Costco and Trader Joe's become consumer favorites as Amazon's love declines – Orange County Register

According to a customer satisfaction survey released on Tuesday, Feb. 26, Costco may be a newcomer to ecommerce, but consumers love it even more than Amazon.com.

Trader Joe's perpetual favorite was the winning grocery store.

Costco scored 83 on the annual US Customer Satisfaction Index, 82 points higher than Amazon. Amazon has been in the lead since 2010, but its rating has dropped four points from the previous year. This is the first time that the survey included Costco in its Internet retail category.

The investigation attributed Costco's rise to a same-day delivery partnership with Instacart and a new online grocery delivery service. The grocery store is an important consumer category that Amazon has struggled to penetrate. The online trading giant has bought Whole Foods Market in 2017, which gives it a presence of brick and mortar to help sell more food products.

The report highlights the importance of groceries for Internet users. The grocery store accounts for $ 840 billion in annual spending in the United States, Walmart Inc. being the largest player.

Consumers surveyed ranked Trader's Joe No. 1, placing the Monrovia chain at 86 on the satisfaction index. The survey ranked 22 grocers in over a dozen categories, including the quality of mobile apps, convenience, cleanliness, selection, sales and promotions, and speed of purchases.

Wegman (85), Aldi and Publix ex aequo (84), Costco (83), H-E-B (82) and Sam's Club (80) completed the top 5 grocery stores.

Bottom: Save-A-Lot, Southeastern Grocers (who operates Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Mas), Supervalu tied (76) Albertsons (75); and Walmart (72).

Amazon has partially slipped due to the acquisition of Whole Foods, which is common when customers find that their experience is disrupted when taking over a business, said David VanAmburg, director of the survey company. Amazon also lost points as a result of the transition of its long-standing partner shipments such as United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. to a network of independent subcontractors, he said.

"Suddenly, Amazon parcels arrive in U-Haul rental trucks or in a random van rather than at UPS or the postman," said VanAmburg. "We have seen slippages in the shipping and fulfillment of orders and the completion of work on time."