Building loyalty through satisfaction

What supermarket pharmacy provider scores highest in consumer satisfaction? That would be Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets, the largest employee-owned U.S. grocery chain.

(Click here to view the full report.)



In the annual J.D. Power and Associate Satisfaction Survey, released in December 2014, Publix Pharmacy ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction in the supermarket segment for the fifth year in a row. Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said the survey “validates our focus on the customer experience within our stores. We are committed to exceeding our customers’ expectations and helping them achieve their health-and-wellness goals.”



Publix also earned the top score among all large food and drug retailers in the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, which ranks quality of customer experience across 20 industries.



The chain’s pharmacies offer a growing battery of preventive services, including low-cost, five-minute cholesterol screenings by appointment; free blood-pressure screenings with counseling; vaccinations for a variety of conditions; and free pharmacist-led mini-seminars on good nutritional choices, understanding food labels and monitoring glucose levels.



Publix also has built a deep reservoir of goodwill through its prescription giveaway program, which provides free 30-day supplies of several widely used medications, including antibiotics, metformin and lisinopril. By the end of April of this year, Brous said, “we will have filled more than 50 million free prescription medications during our free script program.”



In addition, Publix is among the growing army of pharmacy operators that have embraced medication synchronization as a tool for boosting drug adherence and pharmacist counseling.



Publix also continues its steady expansion across the Southeast. “Overall, we are on target to open approximately 20 new stores in 2015,” Brous told Drug Store News.