Trader Joe’s Was Just Dethroned As Best Grocer for Customer Service

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Publix store interior
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There’s no denying it, consumers have favorites. Favorite foods, favorite restaurants, even favorite supermarkets. The 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index covers six retail industries, from gas stations to drugstores, and examines how Americans feel about them.

The rankings are based on interviews with more than 40,000 customers, chosen randomly. Benchmarks included everything from variety and selection of merchandise to courtesy and helpfulness of staff.

Not all of the supermarkets that ranked in the top 10 have locations in all regions of the country, but almost all have familiar names. So even if you don’t have one nearby, you’ve likely heard of most of them.

For years, Trader Joe’s has ranked No. 1, but its reign has finally ended. In 2024, three supermarket chains tied for the top spot, and none of them is Trader Joe’s.

Here, then, is the countdown to the three stores that managed to beat out Trader Joe’s – and every other supermarket – when it comes to shopper satisfaction.

Aldi

Aldi store
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 81 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 80

This Germany-based discount chain is known for carrying its own brands — in fact, more than 90% of products at Aldi are exclusive to the retailer.

Don’t miss the shopper-dubbed “Aisle of Shame,” where deeply discounted products are offered. It’s just one of “10 Things You Should Know Before Shopping at Aldi.”

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 82 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 79

You won’t find sugar-blasted cereals or sodas at this Austin, Texas-based chain. Whole Foods Market is known for its high standards, which ban more than 260 ingredients, including hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup. Amazon bought the chain for $13.4 billion in 2017.

BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ's Wholesale Club
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 82 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 79

Like Sam’s Club and Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club is a membership-only warehouse club chain, with locations in 20 states. Stores are mostly on the U.S. East Coast.

A plus for some shoppers: BJ’s Wholesale Club discounts membership for college students, military members and veterans, medical professionals, first responders, teachers and other government employees.

Target

Shoppers in checkout lines at a Target store
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 82 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 79

You may not think of Target as a supermarket. The discount-store chain is better known for affordable clothing, home decor, school supplies and more. But groceries have been a part of Target for decades, with its first owned grocery brand, Archer Farms, having rolled out in 1995.

Wegmans

Wegman's
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 82 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 80

Wegmans is one of the smallest chains in the ACSI survey, with just 110 or so locations. But fresh produce is a big deal at this small chain. Wegmans runs its own organic farm and orchard in New York’s Finger Lakes region, where it tries out varieties of organic crops.

Sam’s Club

Sam's Club, Bloomington, Minnesota.
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 83 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 79

The Sam in Sam’s Club is Sam Walton himself, who opened the first Walmart in 1962. The first Sam’s Club came along in 1983, with the goal of helping small-business owners save money by buying in bulk.

Like Costco and BJ’s, Sam’s Club requires you to buy a membership in order to shop — with a few exceptions we detail in “How to Shop at Sam’s Club Without a Membership.”

Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe's produce section
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 84 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 84

Trader Joe’s has plenty of devoted fans, but it doesn’t strive to cram its aisles with as many products as possible. Stores feature a smaller selection of items than those of most grocery chains You’ll find Joe’s O’s instead of Cheerios, and Joe Joe’s sandwich cookies instead of Oreos. But devoted fans love the chain’s quirks, from its generous return policy to its rule that private-label goods it stocks contain no artificial flavors and preservatives, trans fats or genetically modified ingredients.

H-E-B

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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 85 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 81

Texas-based H-E-B takes its name from the initials of founder Howard Edward Butt. All of its more than 420 stores are located in Texas or Mexico.

Publix

Publix storefront
Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com

This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 85 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 82

With more than 1,300 stores in eight Southern states, Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the United States. Its Pub Subs, submarine sandwiches custom-built while you wait, on fresh-baked bread, are a special favorite.

Costco

Costco
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This supermarket’s American Customer Satisfaction Index score in:

  • 2024: 85 (on a 100-point scale)
  • 2023: 82

Costco’s first location, then called Price Club, was the world’s first membership warehouse club when it opened in San Diego in 1976. Today, the chain has more than 800 locations worldwide. Costco is perhaps best known as a chain where you can’t buy just one small jar of anything, but you can easily stock a daycare center or shop for a small army. Don’t miss the $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo, which remains priced exactly the same as it was in 1985.

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