Study: Consumers profess loyalty to Costco

NEW YORK U.S. consumers are most loyal to Costco in the grocery, personal care and mass merchandise categories, according to Colloquy, a marketing research and consulting firm.

According to Colloquy's new Retail Loyalty Index, across five geographical regions, Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Northwest, Costco was the national winner in the grocery category. The warehouse club was the first choice of consumers in two regions, the Southwest and Southeast. Publix was a close runner up and H-E-B followed.

Costco also was consumers’ loyalty favorite among personal care retailers, winning three regions and placing in the top three in the other two. Wal-Mart was the runner-up in this category, suggesting that consumers are more price conscious in this sector than others. The highest-rated stand-alone pharmacist in this category was Rite-Aid.

In the Mass Merchant category, the discount club Costco garnered most loyalty from bargain hunters nationwide. Target was runner up, followed by Wal-Mart.