John Lewis is still the top place to shop

John Lewis remains the nation’s favourite retailer, with IKEA in second place.

A poll of over 6,000 consumers carried out by Verdict Research – the Consumer Satisfaction Index 2009 – found that John Lewis was more highly regarded than any of its competitors, winning by a significant margin ahead of IKEA. John Lewis managed to attain the same satisfaction score as last year.

For the survey Verdict quizzed customers about where they shopped most frequently, and then asked them to rate those stores in terms of range, price, convenience, quality, service, ambience, facilities and layout. The data were collated to give retailers a score for each of these criteria, as well as an overall consumer satisfaction rating.

John Lewis performs well across a range of measures, but it is in service that it really outperforms. Verdict’s consulting director, Neil Saunders, commented: “Today, service standards on the high street are better than they were 10 years ago – but John Lewis still stands out as being exceptional. Its partners really do care about customers and that makes all the difference. Unfortunately for other retailers, it is not something that is easily imitated – it is an inherent part of John Lewis’s culture and philosophy.”

IKEA moved up to second place, from fifth last year. It scores well on both range and price, with an above-average score for quality.

The internet retailer Amazon moved up one place to third position. Convenience is a key driver of satisfaction, although Amazon also performs well on service where it has improved since last year.

Value player TK Maxx took the fourth spot this year, up by 20 places since last year, with price the driving force behind its entry to the top 10. It is followed by Avon, Brantano, Waitrose, Clarks, Marks & Spencer and Shoe Zone.

When ranking the retailers specifically by product category, John Lewis and IKEA retained their first and second positions in homewares, with Wilkinson in third place.