(Finance) – The supermarket ranking most loved by Italians who Altroconsumo processes annually based on the preferences expressed by consumers in various areas: from the convenience of prices to the comfort of the points of sale, from the quality of the products to their assortment, from the waits at the checkout to the availability of discounts and promotions.
The Organization interviewed over 12,000 members and fans (register on the Altroconsumo website), collecting more than 41,000 different shopping experiences, on the basis of which it has developed the rankings of the national supermarket/hypermarket chains, discount stores and local brands preferred by consumers.
In the hyper and super national category (i.e. present in at least five regions) they confirm themselves on the podium Esselunga, NaturaSì and Ipercoopthis year all three on equal merit, but there are many brands that still receive a good opinion with high scores. In particular, NaturaSì, a brand devoted to organic food, boasts the record in various aspects: quality of supermarket brand products, waiting times at the checkout, quality of the products purchased, for which it all obtained scores above 80 out of 100.
Even i discounters receive top ratingsa type of chain which, also in the face of the high cost of living and improvements in the offer, is increasingly conquering consumers’ shopping carts. All the discounters evaluated have in fact obtained a score of at least ‘good’, with Aldi and Eurospin standing at the top of the ranking with their excellent judgement.
Finally, the local brands, which are less widespread throughout the country, appear to be very popular with customers: out of the 40 brands evaluated, eleven obtained an excellent rating and none fell below ‘good’. On equal merit they occupy the leading position DEM, Rossetto, Mega and Iperal. Followed just one point away by 7 other chains at an excellent level, among which Tosano stands out, which obtains the record score of 90 out of 100 in terms of assortment and is also at the top for the convenience of prices. Cadoro, despite having an overall average quality score, is in the lead in aspects relating to comfort within the store, quality of fruit and vegetables, price transparency and quality of fish.
The last category considered is online shopping, where Esselunga, Eurospin and Coop win the prize: in this case customers judged the ease of navigation of the site through which they shopped, the availability of the products, the conditions in which they arrived, the times and accuracy of delivery, and, finally, the customer service in case of necessity. Going into more detail, the aspect that The greatest influence on customer satisfaction with their brand is the convenience of prices, where together with Tosano – already mentioned – the discount Aldi stands out. This is then followed by satisfaction with the quality of the products on the shelves and the quality of those with the supermarket brand, where NaturaSì leads the way, supported by Ipercoop for private label products.
In general, as regards the motivations that guide consumers in choosing a supermarket, the survey made it possible to verify that one in 3 chooses the supermarket for practical reasons of proximity to home or workalmost one in four for the convenience of prices and 17% for the quality of the products on the shelf.
But how has the opinion of Italian consumers changed in the last year? From the comparison between the data collected in 2024 with that of 2023, it emerges that the rankings are rather stable: the signs remained mostly in the same positions, although for all of them there was a reduction of one point in the final judgment. It is the waiting time at the checkout that has the greatest impact on this decline, in addition to the lower appreciation for the quality of fresh products. Another element of dissatisfaction is the prices, one of the most important aspects in the evaluation of the interviewees, which although no longer increasing sharply as in the past, they have nevertheless reached very high levels. And this is actually reflected in a reduction in the average monthly spending of families, which falls by 5%, reaching 387 euros per month: probably because there is greater attention to saving even at the supermarket.