The Best & Worst Grocery Chains in America, According to New Data
With so many national and regional grocery chains populating the United States nowadays, Americans have a plethora of retailers to choose from when they need to restock their fridges and pantries. But are some of those chains superior to others? At least according to new data, the answer is yes.
Solitaired, an online gaming site, recently set out on a mission to pinpoint the best and worst grocery stores in America using Google reviews. As part of the study, it looked at star ratings for individual stores from prominent grocery chains in the United States. It then used that data to calculate an average rating for each chain. Some brands stood out far more than others, both for positive and negative reasons.
The study ultimately ranked Trader Joe's, which had an average rating of 4.638, as the best grocery chain in the country. This ranking is far from surprising considering the massive fanfare that tends to surround Trader Joe's.
However, several other brands weren't too far behind the beloved grocer. Costco and Wegmans tied for second place with average ratings of 4.6.
"These ratings indicate a high level of customer satisfaction and consistent performance across these major chains," Solitaired wrote in reference to Trader Joe's, Costco's, and Wegmans' scores.
Publix, Central Market, H-E-B, WinCo Foods, Lidl, Aldi, and The Fresh Market were also among the top 10 highest-rated grocers.
On the flip side, King Soopers had the lowest average rating (3.938) out of the major chains considered in the study. King Soopers is a Kroger subsidiary that operates more than 100 stores across Colorado and Wyoming.
The discount grocer Save A Lot had the second-lowest score of 4.019, while Kroger came in third with a rating of 4.023. Walmart, Giant Eagle, Acme, Safeway, Piggly Wiggly, Jewel-Osco, and Fred Meyer were also among the 10 lowest-rated grocers in the study.
Of course, this data doesn't mean consumers can't have positive shopping experiences at chains like King Soopers and Save A Lot. But it does indicate that those chains are generally rated lower than high-ranking rivals like Trader Joe's and Costco.
The new study from Solitaired is only the latest attempt to determine which American grocery chain tops all of the others. Earlier this month, data analytics firm dunnhumby ranked H-E-B as America's top grocery retailer in its seventh annual Retailer Preference Index (RPI). That was the third time that H-E-B, a regional grocer concentrated in Texas, has snagged the top ranking in the annual dunnhumby study.
Sign up for our newsletter!
