U.S. Consumer Index Shows Price Isn’t Everything

Roll up the fancy (and expensive) marketing plans and put away the promotional ploys seems to be the message to U.S. retailers from consumers according to the results of the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

After a decade of being swamped with promotions for ever more powerful computers and a range of electronic gadgets along with massively lower flight fares and other plunging prices, U.S. consumers show they are singularly unimpressed with the trend. Indeed, they have come to expect better value at lower prices.

The index, which measures satisfaction for 200 companies in 40 industries and is now in its 10th year, shows customers are overall less satisfied with retailers than a decade ago.

Interestingly, however, traditional industries, such as food makers, continue to receive high marks from buyers. After all, how much can ketchup or baked beans be improved?

The company with the highest index rating was H. J. Heinz with a score of 90, up from 89 a decade ago. Not exactly a producer of state-of-the-art consumer goods as it pumps out millions of tons of ketchup and pork and beans. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard, a flagship consumer electronics firm, fell to 70 from 78 in 1994.

Customers seemed to be saying that retailers are not able to win their loyalty through lower prices alone – that has become a given for many sectors. The message for retailers is that consumers want them to stand out and offer something special.

It could be that customers also want retailers to get back to basics: with knowledgeable sales staff who are enthusiastic about the products they sell who willingly give their time to customers rather than seeming to be keen to get away for their lunch break or another costumer that looks more likely to make a purchase.