Trader Joe’s tops supermarket customer satisfaction list

You may wonder why cashiers at Trader Joe’s are always ringing bells, but here’s something that’s not a mystery: The supermarket chain itself is a ringer when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Trader Joe’s earned a score of 86 out of—duh!—100 in the 2026 Retail and Consumer Shipping Study calculated by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), founded at the University of Michigan in 1994. That’s up from 84 in 2025, when Trader Joe’s tied for the highest rating with Publix. This year Publix—holding steady at 84—placed second, followed by H-E-B (83), and Sam’s Club (82).

If you’re someone who always got only the Most Improved trophy at the team banquet, please know that we see you, and that among supermarkets that trophy goes to Save A Lot, which notched up 3 points this year to 78 (which also happens to be the average rating this year, down from 79 in 2025).

The report attributed the gain to Save A Lot beefing up its loyalty program and mobile app, along with remodeling and improving stores. “These efforts appear to be contributing to a more efficient, streamlined in-store experience,” the report concluded.

For Wegmans, however, the news was even worse than a spill in Aisle 4: It had the most precipitous drop of the 20 supermarket chains rated, from 83 last year to 78 for 2026.

“According to ACSI data,” the report revealed, “customers are less pleased with their in-store experiences for factors such as store layout, staff courtesy, and checkout speed.”

One challenge Wegmans may face in improving its score next year is the response to the chain collecting biometric data on shoppers’ faces, eyes, and voices.

New York City’s City Council is reviewing a ban on collecting such data in response to some consumers’ opposition to Wegmans’s practice. In a March 1 hearing, Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who sponsored the bill, likened the practice to the “invasive and frightening” experience of having credit card details stolen, Gothamist reported.

In a statement to Progressive Grocer, Wegmans said it used the cameras at some stores for “identifying individuals that pose a risk to our people, customers, or operation.”

ACSI based its 2026 ratings on more than 31,000 surveys from randomly selected customers throughout 2025.

The lowest rated chain this year, for the second running and down a point from last year, was Giant Eagle. It scored 73.