Leger has released its 2022 editions of its annual WOW and WOW Digital Studies looking at how retail brands are performing in the eyes of customers.
Luc Dumont, Vice President of Insights for Leger, said the WOW index is about the different elements that play into an overall impression and perception of consumers’ experience with retailers.
“So what do you get from going to that retailer? What are the different dimensions that play into whether people like going or don’t like going to a retailer?,” said Dumont.
“The model is made up of 16 different dimensions we measure. So things like variety of products. Does the retailer help me make new discoveries? Are the prices competitive? How is the look and feel? How’s the look and feel of the store? Things of that nature.
“And of course a very important element is the staff. So the staff competency. How good they are at dealing with different questions to the products that they sell? How attentive are they to their customers? Whether they’re courteous. Things like that. And a very important part is the store ambiance. How is the store laid out? How is the signage? Is there enough information? What does it feel like to be in the store?”
In 2022, more than 12,000 Ontarians were surveyed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of 148 retailers across 20 sectors. The retailers with a score above 90 are included in the list of retailers that offered the best in-store customer experience in 2022.
WOW Ontario Ranking
1. Saje Natural Wellness (98.9)
2. Lush (97.4)
3. Lee Valley Tools (96.1)
4. Lindt Chocolate Shop (95.1)
5. M&M Food Market (94.1)
6. Yves Rocher (93.3)
7. Nespresso (93.2)
8. NYX (90.9)
9. The Wine Rack (90.0)
In 2022, more than 12,000 Quebecers were surveyed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of 203 retailers across 20 sectors.The retailers with a score above 90 are included in the list of retailers that offered the best in-store customer experience in 2022.
WOW Quebec Ranking
1. Tite Frette (97.0)
2. Yves Rocher (95.1)
3. Shop Santé (94.9)
4. Nespresso (93.4)
5. Claire France (93.2)
6. Mondou (92.6)
7. SAQ (92.4)
8. Doyle (92.3)
9. Bath & Body Works (92.2)
10. Lego (92.1)
11. Popeye’s Supplements (92.0)
12. Lush (91.9)
13. Pitou Minou et Compagnons (91.6)
14. Chocolats Favoris (90.2)
For the 2022 WOW Digital study, nearly 20,000 Canadians were surveyed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of more than 200 websites/mobile apps in Canada across more than 25 different sectors.
1. Shop Santé (97.6)
2. SAQ (97.2)
3. Simons (94.1)
4. Nespresso (93.7)
5. Lego (91.7)
6. DAVIDsTEA (90.6)
7. Popeye’s Supplements (89.9)
8. NIKE (88.5)
9. Lush (88.4)
10. Lufa Farms (88.3), Penningtons (88.3)
Dumont said the WOW scores have varied over the last couple of years because of forces outside of everyone’s control such as the COVID pandemic. Supply issues have also impacted scores.
“This year we tried to explore in some detail the impact that the labour shortage has had on the retail experience,” he said. “This was a new sort of area of exploration for us this year but we wanted to see how are people feeling about it.
“And very interesting that most people, something like 88 per cent of the people that we spoke to, said that the labour shortage was something that even though they noticed it, they knew it was there, it didn’t really impact their experience with the retailer. For a couple of reasons. One of them being that they felt that retailers had provided solutions to that like more flexible hours, the ability to shop in advance and then pick up in store. But also there was a lot of empathy in the way that consumers are reacting to it. They’re understanding . . . That was a bit of a surprise. We thought it would be much more negative, that people would be much more upset and feel that it had impacted their retail experience in a more negative way which is not the case.”