Consumers rate grocery shopping online better than in-store

Brands that value a customer's time and effort are seen as providing the best customer experience - and that is happening more so online than in-store, reveals Nunwood's UK Customer Experience Excellence Report (.pdf).

Based on more than 40,000 experiences from approximately 7,500 UK consumers, it found that supermarkets are providing the best online customer experience versus in-store. Supermarket customers gave the online experience higher scores than other sectors, by an average of 3.9%.

According to Nunwood retail specialist and report author Craig Ryder, "consumers are placing an increased importance on their time. Those grocery brands that performed well overall scored particularly well in areas around valuing a customer's time."

The supermarket with the largest difference between its online and offline experience was Waitrose with their online experience scoring 6.5% more than in-store.

The supermarket rated as the best online experience was Ocado who are setting new standards of delivery and service. As well as providing a friendly, reliable delivery service with drivers who are empowered to solve issues at the point of need, they rarely substitute products and provide products with long "use by" dates.

Tags: customer experience, food industry, in-store, online shopping, retail trends, supermarket, UK