Data: M&S Simply Food, John Lewis, Amazon and Lush named among UK’s favourite retailers

The grocer leapfrogged John Lewis to reclaim number-one spot, having also finished top of the pile in 2017.

Amazon, which finished behind M&S Food and John Lewis in third place, had emerged victorious in the survey for six consecutive years between 2011 and 2016.

The UK’s 30 favourite retailers

The OC&C Retail Proposition Index 2019 ranked the strength of retailers’ overall propositions based on a number of key metrics including price, range and service.

M&S Food topped the pile after “reinforcing a leading quality rating, tailoring their offer to win on targeted missions and engineering a significant boost in price perception over the last 12 months”, OC&C said.

For the first time in the index’s 10-year history, three value retailers made the top 10 as discounters made “material improvements in quality, trust and service” to broaden their appeal beyond price.

Aldi, which finished seventh for the third year running, was joined in the upper echelons of this year’s list by Home Bargains and Wilko in ninth and tenth respectively.

How the top 10 has changed

OC&C partner Matt Coode said the changes epitomised what had been “a much more volatile year” in terms of the movement within its annual ranking. Coode said that the survey unearthed a number of shifts in “how retailers are viewed and the different metrics that are shaping that view among consumers”.

He said that value for money and price perceptions have now become “critical” for businesses, while trust and sustainability credentials are also emerging as increasingly important metrics for the modern consumer.

Boots, which finished eighth in the overall ranking, was voted the UK’s most trusted retailer, edging out Argos, M&S Simply Food and Pets at Home.

“Trust historically has been a very strong correlator to medium-term success, and there has been a pretty systematic reduction in retailer trust this year – 15 of the top 20 UK retailers have seen a reduction in trust from shoppers,” Coode said.

“How you address that is important. When you ask shoppers about what drives trust it is consistency. When retailers are making store closures, offering erratic prices, or different service propositions depending on what method of delivery or collection you have chosen, they are making themselves less consistent. The challenge is to balance making changes to your propositions to compete in a difficult market with building brand equity and consumer trust.”

But Coode said it was the issue of sustainability that is set to drive the next seismic shift in the way that consumers view a retailer and, therefore, where they will ultimately choose to shop in the future.

The OC&C survey said that consumers are becoming “increasingly conscious of environmental and sustainability issues when shopping”.

Some 45% of UK consumers said that the environmental impact is an important factor to them when deciding where to shop. That percentage rises to 55% among millennials and Generation Z – groups that are forecast to drive more than 90% of spending growth in the UK over the next five years.

Coode warns that sustainability represents a “ticking time bomb” for retailers in the UK since the issue will start to radically shape how consumers shop in the next few years.

Some retailers are already feeling that heat. Amazon, for instance, ranked the best retailer in the UK among shoppers who do not place a great deal of importance on a retailer’s sustainability credentials. Among shoppers who do, Amazon ranked twelfth.

“We are on the cusp of a point where not having a good story to tell your shoppers about your sustainability credentials is going to have a direct impact on your performance and relevance to shoppers,” Coode cautioned.

“Over the next 12 to 18 months, the apparel and food retailers who are not doing enough on sustainability will see a reduction in their footfall and sales.”