In the land of alleged great customer service and “the client is always right” companies take quite seriously their commitment to consumer experience and tend to go above and beyond to placate their customers just to ensure that they are providing better service than the competition. Of course this has a very dark side of customer complaints, employee abuse and exploitation of the system, but still companies and brands bend themselves backwards to try to give the best retail experience.
These efforts are showcased in annual reviews that are published evaluating which companies the public believe are the most valued brands amongst consumers. While this is a good marker for their corporate reputation, or at least it was in the past, it seems to have transformed and evolved into an ego competition where no one can win, and if they do, it is at the expense of their employees suffering.
Still, these rankings mean a lot to businesses, and with the change in consumer habits, some of the metrics that the public used to value are now changing and there has been a shakeup in the industry and it has been reflected in customer preferences.
The best rated companies and brands
The list has been compiled by Axios and Harris Poll after surveying more than 6,000 people between March 6 and 22. While previously low process seemed to be the number one category on which to judge these companies, it now seems like business ethics, quality of service, customer service, and the shopping experience have taken a more important place in the rankings, and that has made a certain retailers fall in the rankings quite swiftly and be replaced by others with better perceived values.
If we are looking at national grocers and supermarkets, it is no surprise that Costco is fairly high up, but while previously Walmart would have proudly outranked almost everyone else due to their low prices and accommodating nature, they have been replaced by Trader Joe’s, known to have better business practices.
Trader Joe’s, established in 1958, earned the top spot in a national reputation ranking, reaching a score of 82.1, a notable 12-point increase from the prior year. Survey participants pointed to its wide product variety, fair pricing, and consistently pleasant in-store atmosphere as key strengths. Close behind was Costco, scoring 80.6 and securing second place. Its warehouse model and membership system received high marks for quality and dependable service, factors that continue to foster strong customer loyalty.
But Walmart has not just fallen from the top grocery spot, they have also been replaced in the home improvement department by Home Depot, who ranked third overall with a score of 78.6. In fact, their fall from grace was so swift that they failed to make it into the top 10 of brands with the best reputation, a disastrous conclusion to 2024 and not a great beginning for 2025 either.
The top ten brands identified by Americans in 2025 were:
- Trader Joe’s
- Patagonia
- Microsoft
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Costco
- Samsung
- Arizona Beverage Company
- Nvidia
- UPS
- Apple
Some of them are expected, some of them are not, but considering the diversification of companies that we are seeing and that customers are looking every day for more personalized services that suit their needs, it is not a surprise to see tech companies mixed in with other more day to day service companies.
Plus, since reputation alone does not seem to be helping lately, it is understandable that customers are choosing to branch out and explore alternatives that they would not have considered previously, and they seem to have been pleasantly surprised.