The proportion of Aldi satisfied customers is once again comfortably higher than the other three major supermarket chains—but all are still within striking distance of the German discount chain.
In November last year, both Coles and Woolworths came within one percent point of Aldi, making it the closest race in five years.
But the latest results from the Roy Morgan Supermarket Satisfaction report show Aldi edging back toward the nine-out-of-ten mark, with 89.7 percent of its customers agreeing they were satisfied with the supermarket overall.
The only major supermarket to improve in 2012, Woolworths maintained silver in the satisfaction ranking (87.4 percent), followed by Coles (86.2 percent) and IGA (83.7 percent).
Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“What an interesting year 2012 was for supermarket satisfaction, with long-time leader Aldi almost toppled from the top of the podium.
“Late 2012 also saw Woolworths edge ahead of Coles for the first time since 2010, reaching a five-year high in their satisfaction result.
“Meanwhile satisfaction with Coles is continuing to trend downward from its peak just shy of 90 percent a year ago.
“The Supermarket Satisfaction report also looks at how satisfied ‘bigger-basket’ grocery buyers are: among customers with an average weekly spend above $200, Woolworths is ahead of Aldi and more than three percentage points in front of Coles.
“Satisfaction is naturally a crucial battleground in the supermarket wars. Dissatisfied customers are unlikely to continue to shop at a particular supermarket if they have an alternative, and even worse are likely to ‘spread the word’ about their dissatisfaction. Therefore monitoring satisfaction levels is paramount to understanding where loyalties lie and how customers of different ages, basket sizes or neighbourhoods rate their supermarket of choice.”