Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
J.D. Power recently released its 2023 U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction StudySM, which measures customer satisfaction through five factors: staff and service, in-store experience, merchandise, online experience and price.
Despite Amazon continuing to attract more home improvement customers, 87% of home improvement purchases are happening in-store, according to the study. Additionally, whenever a customer is drawn to a physical retail store, it creates an advantage for that retailer, as 89% of customers make their purchase on their first store visit.
“The digital aspect of home improvement retailing is becoming increasingly important as more customers are researching online and watching how-to videos, and Amazon is definitely getting a piece of this action,” says Christina Cooley, senior director of the home and retail intelligence practice at J.D. Power. “However, Amazon cannot compete with the holistic journey that brick-and-mortar stores provide. Starting from the digital resources, physical locations have the ability to support customers from project ideation to a personalized in-store shopping and purchase experience.”
Ace Hardware ranked highest in customer satisfaction for a fifth consecutive year with an overall score of 873. The company has also held this honor for 16 of the last 17 years.
“Congratulations to Ace retailers for once again ranking number one in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study,” says Jeff Gooding, corporate vice president of marketing for Ace Hardware. “Helpful is Ace’s brand promise and part of our retailers DNA, so they certainly don’t provide this best-in-class service to win awards. But the consistent year-after-year recognition is further validation on how seriously and dedicated our stores are to providing trusted advice to their customers. Just last year, Ace retailers hit a milestone of completing over 1 million employee training hours in 12 months with the focus on operations, product knowledge and leadership development, all so they can continue to deliver on the helpful promise.”
Other home improvement retailers who made the list include Lowe’s at No. 2 with 849 points, The Home Depot at No. 3 with 849 and Menards taking the No. 4 spot with 839 points.
Read last years study here.
