Many Shoppers Disloyal to Local Supermarket

ARMONK, N.Y. — In a new survey conducted by IBM here, 73% of 6,000 U.S. consumers said the either have no loyalty toward their local supermarket or feel antagonistic toward it, IBM announced today. Just 27% of the surveyed consumers are loyal customers willing to act as “advocates” for the local store by recommending it to others, the survey reported. The survey determined that the loyal group places a high value on quality, selection, employees, product availability and the emerging category of social responsibility. The survey is the basis of a report, “Why Advocacy Matters to Grocers,” written by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The report identified Wegmans, Publix and Whole Foods Market as having the most loyal shoppers in the survey. “Clearly the customer loyalty card efforts across the grocery industry have fallen short of their goals as grocers sacrifice customer experience to focus on lower prices,” said Fred Balboni, IBM global retail industry leader, IBM Global Business Services. “Building differentiation with today’s savvy and vocal consumer requires a whole new approach for businesses.”

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