Walmart, Sam’s Club lead the pack in contactless services

Some retailers have adapted to the need to reimagine the customer shopping experience better than others.

With consumers still anxious about leaving their homes amid the pandemic, many are opting for more contactless shopping experiences. A mystery shopping study by global research firm Ipsos identified the retailers that rank highest in buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), curbside and delivery in the grocery category. The study also included a few findings in the apparel category.

The top brands in buy-online-pickup-in-store were:

1. Walmart performed the strongest across all measured attributes. Most notably, Walmart excelled at posting visible signage directing consumers to the grocery pickup area in 86% of locations audited. 

2. Target performed exceptionally well against the categories surveyed and had grocery orders ready when promised at 98% of visited locations

The top brands in curbside pickup were:

1. Sam’s Club ranked first with a near-perfect performance, and notably for providing designated curbside parking at 100% of locations audited

2. Kroger closely followed in the categories customers noted caring about most, and had orders ready when promised at 97% of locations

The top brands in delivery were:

1. H-E-B ranked first in grocery delivery for their 99% accuracy rate on delivery orders.

2. Whole Foods Market closely followed, with a 95% order accuracy rate.

3. Aldi performed well across the board, and predominantly excelled at providing delivery notifications on 95% of orders

In the apparel category, Target led the pack, with clear, visible signage directing consumers to the in-store pickup area posted at 83% of locations. Nordstrom was also a strong contender, offered a contactless pickup experience at 65% of locations, making the retailer one of the best in the category for contactless pickup

The Ipsos E-Commerce Experience Report is part of a two-pronged study, first surveying 2,000 Americans to understand usage, attitudes, and perceptions of consumers regarding pickup and first-party delivery of products from retailers in the current retail environment, followed by thousands of mystery shops that measured the performance of brands nationwide and regionally on pickup and delivery attributes.

This story originally appeared on Chain Store Age.