Brand Reputation Series - Issue 2: How well Is The Grocery Sector Performing?

During the past five months we have been tracking the UK’s perception of brands across various sectors to uncover their performance on trust and likeability, and their overall response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This issue focuses on how much consumers trust the grocery sector and how this has changed over time. 

When we began tracking trust, the majority of UK consumers had faith in the grocery sector (58%) with sales rising by £500m as Brits adjusted their shopping habits to their lockdown lifestyle (Source: Sharecast). But this trust has since eroded by 16%. After wearing masks became mandatory, shoppers made fewer trips to the grocery store (Source: Independent). The dip in trust could therefore be due to safety concerns about the spread of the virus in enclosed spaces, or people disregarding face covering regulations in-store but not being challenged by the grocers. 

In the grocery sector, we have seen likeability towards brands decrease overall. Based on current trends in the news and in our data, we expect Tesco will continue to be the most liked brand over the coming weeks. 

Tesco

Although Tesco is the most liked of the brands measured, over the whole period likeability towards the brand dropped by 11%. There has been some recovery in the past fortnight, however. The grocer announced changes to Clubcard, offering exclusive deals to loyal customers and reducing prices on more items (Source: Daily Echo), so we expect to see the number of customers liking Tesco to increase. 

ASDA

The amount of people reporting they like ASDA has dropped from 74% to 61%. Recently, police warned ASDA customers of email scams offering shoppers the chance to win £1,000 (Source: Manchester Evening News), which could potentially further decrease likeability in the coming weeks.

Sainsbury’s

Likeability towards Sainsbury’s dropped 15% over the period we measured. The supermarket reported it will not be enforcing face coverings, although it is urging shoppers to play their part (Source: The Guardian). Nevertheless, this could have affected the grocer’s ratings if some vulnerable consumers felt forced to shop elsewhere. 

Aldi

The number of customers reporting they liked Aldi dropped from 70% to 58% between April and the end of August. The launch of the supermarket’s click and collect service (Source: Northumberland Gazette) may help steer it back to the right track and improve likeability, as long as it is effective over time. 

Morrisons

The only brand with stable likeability, and showing signs of possible growth in the past few months, is Morrisons (up 1% since June). However, the costs involved in responding to the pandemic resulted in the chain reporting a 25% fall in profits (Source: Financial Times). This could affect likeability towards the grocer in the coming months if financial woes spill over into service or price issues.

Source: Rare: Consulting. UK adults 18+. Data collected between 7th April and 31st August 2020 (N=8,167). Those aware of the brand: Sainsbury’s (N=6,374), Tesco (N=6,460), Aldi (N=6,318), Asda (N=6,403), Morrison’s (N=6,313). Full data tables available from www.rare.consulting.

As seen with Tesco, exclusive deals and discounts through loyalty cards can help increase likability towards a brand, other stores operating in the grocery sector could improve deals and offers in turn, potentially increasing the number of people who like the brand further improving overall brand reputation. 

Not enforcing Coronavirus restrictions and regulations may decrease likeability towards the brand as shoppers may not feel safe when purchasing groceries therefore, ensuring stores are covid secure may increase the number of people who reportedly like the brand. 

Overall, the Grocery sector has remained the strongest sector across the board. Despite this, the number of people reporting they like brands operating in the grocery sector has still dropped over the course of the pandemic, with Tesco being the most liked brand across the duration of the pandemic. 

Keep an eye out for our other sector specific blogs, including deeper dives on the Retail, Banking and Telecoms sectors! 

For more information on the data gathered, email hello@rare.consulting.