Publix, Aldi tops in customer experience rankings

Publix, Aldi and H-E-B now share something else besides operating in the grocery sector: They all do a stupendous job of serving their customers.

According to a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, the three supermarket chains earned the highest scores in the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings. The list ranks 293 companies across 20 industries.

Joining those firms in the top 12 spots are retailers Chick-fil-A, PetSmart, Amazon.com, Trader Joe's, Papa John's, Walgreens, and Hannaford's.

"Customer experience drives loyalty, so it's a growing area of focus for most businesses,” said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

While supermarket chains, fast food chains, and retailers dominate the top of the Temkin Experience Ratings, Internet service providers, TV service providers, and health plans, and earn the dubious distinction of defining poor performance, as none of those companies earned a "good" rating. For the second straight year, Coventry Health Care earned the lowest spot in the ratings, followed by Fox Rent A Car, Comcast (for both TV service and Internet service), Fujitsu, Health Net,Spirit Airlines, Hitachi, Dollar, BCBS of FL, Time Warner Cable, Blackboard, and Con Edison of NY.

"Customer experience drives loyalty, so it's a growing area of focus for most businesses. Unfortunately, we still see chronically poor customer experience across TV service providers, Internet service providers, and health plans," Temkin added.