Upmarket retailer Waitrose has been voted Britain’s favourite supermarket for customer service .
An online survey of 25,000 adult customers, carried out by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), revealed that Waitrose is the best food retailer and the third best company overall in terms of customer service, with a score of 87.1 per cent.
The grocery chain said it was pleased with the result and promised to continue offering an inspiring range accompanied by great service and value.
Parent company John Lewis came first in the poll with a score of 90.9 per cent – the first organisation to surpass 90 per cent in the ratings.
Other top performers include the Fire and Ambulance Services (89.8 per cent), Marks and Spencer Food (87 per cent), Mazda (86.2 per cent) and the RAC (86 per cent).
Commenting on the findings, Jo Causon, chief executive of the ICS, said: “This is an exceptional result for those 37 organisations from a wide variety of sectors, which achieved above 80 per cent – the benchmark for world-class customer satisfaction.”
Overall, Britain achieved an average rating of 74 per cent in the ICS’s UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), up from 72 per cent in the previous study.
Causon added that the figure shows “world-beating customer service is thriving in the UK” and giving companies “the best chance of getting out of the recession sooner and stronger”.
“Research shows that taking customer service seriously can produce 24 per cent more profit,” he explained. “Even a 5 per cent jump in customer loyalty can boost profits by between 25 and 85 per cent.”
