Best auto and hardware retailers named

Home, tools, hardwareRepco and Bunnings are leading the way in customer satisfaction in the auto parts and hardware categories, according to Roy Morgan’s Customer Satisfaction results for February.

Auto retailer, Repco, scored a customer satisfaction rating of 88 per cent, while last year’s overall winner, Autobarn, is in second place on 87 per cent.

In the field of hardware retail, less than one per cent separates the February leader, Bunnings, with Mitre 10, while last year’s overall winner, True Value Hardware, is in third place.

Although a greater proportion of men than women shop at the hardware stores measured in the Customer Satisfaction Awards, women are consistently more likely to be satisfied customers.

This gender difference is especially evident in the satisfaction levels for True Value Hardware (91 per cent of women versus 86 per cent of men) and Masters (90 per cent of women versus 82 per cent of men).

A higher proportion of men also shop at auto stores and, in the case of Repco and Autobarn, are considerably more likely than female customers to be satisfied with the service they receive. The opposite is true for Supercheap Auto, which achieved a 90 per cent satisfaction rating among its female shoppers, compared with 85 per cent of men.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says while both categories had very convincing overall winners last year, the playing field has shifted since then, with new leaders emerging in the first couple of months of 2015.

“While men account for the majority of customers at hardware stores and auto retailers alike, they are not necessarily more satisfied than women. In fact, the hardware chains appear to be doing a particularly good job of keeping their female shoppers happy, as does Supercheap Auto.

“Despite the almost photo finish between hardware leader Bunnings and close contender Mitre 10, their satisfaction ratings vary subtly among different generations of customers. Bunnings does best with Pre-Boomers and Generations Y and Z, while Mitre 10 has the advantage with Baby Boomers and Generation X shoppers.”

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Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), March 2014-February 2015 (n=15,990).Base: Australians 14+

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