Customers most satisfied with these appliance retailers

Best Buy ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the $24 billion-plus appliance market.



That's according to the J.D. Power 2017 Appliance Retailer Satisfaction Study. With a score of 857, Best Buy came out on top, ahead of Lowe's (840), The Home Depot (839), Hhgregg (831) and Sears (828). Overall satisfaction with appliance retailers in 2017 is 838 points, up from 821 in 2016.



The study found that having sales staff greets customers promptly has the greatest impact on customer satisfaction. The other key performance indicators (in order of importance) are having the salesperson thank a customer for the purchase; and a neatly arranged appliance display. When each of these top three indicators are met, 50% of customers say they "definitely will" repurchase from the retailer. When only two are met, that percentage drops to 29%. When just one KPI is met, the percentage drops even further to 17%.



“Staying true to such sales basics as customer greeting, appreciation and clean displays are proving to be important aspects related to increased customer satisfaction," said Greg Truex, senior director of the at-home practice at J.D. Power. "By training staff to be attentive to both customer and visual details, retailers may be able to keep those loyal customers and increase sales as the market increases over the next few years."



From the initial in-store greeting to receiving assistance from a store employee, timeliness is the key to customer satisfaction, as the expectation for these interactions to occur is two minutes or less. Customer satisfaction drops significantly from 881 (on a 1,000-point scale) to 834 when the initial greeting takes more than two minutes.



It is also critical for store employees to respond in a timely manner when a customer asks for help. Similarly, overall satisfaction declines significantly when a customer waits more than two minutes to be assisted, compared with waiting less than two minutes (830 vs. 870, respectively).



Following are some loyalty findings of the study:



• Among delighted customers (overall satisfaction scores of 901 and above), 69% say they "definitely will" repurchase from the retailer, compared with the overall study average of 39%.



• Nearly three-fourths (74%) of delighted appliance retailer customers say they "definitely will" recommend the retailer to others, compared with the overall study average of 43%.



• Among delighted customers, the average number of positive recommendations is 4.0, compared with the overall study average of 2.7.



Now in its 10th year, the Appliance Retailer Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction with appliance retailers by examining seven factors (in order of importance): sales staff and service; store facility; price; delivery service; sales and promotions; merchandise; and installation service. The study is based on responses from 2,822 customers who purchased major home appliances from a multiregional appliance retailer within the previous 12 months.