Customers' Choice Awards

The Customers' Choice Awards, sponsored by American Express, honor retailers across all channels and formats who demonstrate superior customer service. The annual survey of consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service is conducted by BIGresearch. More than 30,000 consumers across the U.S. participate, and the "Top Ten" companies selected each year for best practices underscore the importance of excellence in customer service to consumers and encourage all retailers to strive to improve every customer experience. The "Top Ten" recipients are announced each year at NRF's Big Show.

2009 Finalists for the Customers' Choice Awards

Ranking of the Top Ten Finalists was announced at NRF's BIG Show on January 12, 2010.

The top ten winners were selected by shoppers in the annual NRF Foundation/American Express® Customers’ Choice survey.

According to shoppers, the top ten* retailers for customer service are:

1. L.L.Bean
2. Overstock.com
3. Zappos.com
4. Amazon.com
5. QVC
6. Coldwater Creek
7. HSN
8. Lands' End
9. JCPenney
10. Kohl's, and Nordstrom (tied)

* As a result of a tie among two retailers, there are two number 10 spots.

About the Survey

The NRF Foundation/American Express 2009 Customer Service survey was designed to gauge consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service and to provide a listing of the top customer service retailers. The survey, which polled 8,600 consumers, was conducted by consumer marketing intelligence firm BIGresearch in September 2009. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent. Consumers answered the open ended question, "Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, internet, or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?" In order to develop a fair comparison, regardless of a retailer's size or geographic coverage, the consumer survey responses were compared to each reatiler's 2008 revenues to develop the overall rankings. The survey data and the process for selecting the winners were reviewed by Professor Martin P. Block, Ph.D., of Northwestern University.

BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch's syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.

2008 Finalists for the Customers' Choice Awards

Top Ten Winners are designated in bold. All other companies listed are finalists.

About the 2008 Survey

The NRF Foundation/American Express 2008 Customer Service survey was designed to gauge consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service and to provide a listing of the top customer service retailers. The 2008 survey, which polled 8,167 consumers, was conducted by consumer marketing intelligence firm BIGresearch from September 2-9, 2008. Consumers answered the open ended question, "Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, internet, or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?" Read the press release.

For more information on the survey, including how respondents voted, how the final list was determined, and the methodology used to calculate the rankings, read the Frequently Asked Questions.

Previous Nominees for the Customers' Choice Awards

Top Ten Winners are designated in bold. All other companies listed are finalists.

2007 L.L.Bean Zappos.com Amazon.com Overstock.com Blair Corporation Lands' End Coldwater Creek Nordstrom Lane Bryant Newegg.com Kohl's JC Penney eBay QVC Sears Best Buy Cabela's Wegmans Dillard's Macy's ACE Hardware Target WalMart Belk Circuit City Bed Bath & Beyond Lowe's Kroger Barnes & Noble Meijer Old Navy Victoria's Secret Kmart Costco Publix Home Depot Safeway Walgreens Apple Sam's Club CVS Dell Verizon
2006 Amazon.com Nordstrom L.L.Bean Overstock.com Lane Bryant Boscov's Department Stores Kohl's REI.com Lands' End Macy's JC Penney Fashion Bug Sears Coldwater Creek Dillards Marshall Fields Fry's Wegman Belk ebay Best Buy Target Trader Joe Bath & Body Works WalMart QVC Bed Bath & Beyond Victoria's Secret Harris Teeter Meijer IKEA Lowes Old Navy Whole Foods Kroger Mervyns Menards Hy-Vee Publix ACE Hardware Kmart Circuit City Costco Home Depot Shoprite Sam's Club Walgreens Safeway Albertsons CVS
2005 Nordstrom Coldwater Creek Marshall Field Kohl's Corporation Boscov's Department Stores REI.com JCPenney Company Lane Bryant Best Buy Company Eddie Bauer WalMart Target Sears Macy's Belk Bed Bath & Beyond Lord and Taylor Mervyns Victoria's Secret Wegmans Bath & Body Works Circuit City Dillards ACE Hardware Fry's Foleys Express Younkers Kmart Trader Joe Lowes Old Navy Meijer Whole Foods Home Depot Neiman Marcus Filenes Publix Vons Ross Barnes & Noble Costco Menards Staples Fred Meyer TJ Maxx Office Depot Gap Safeway Toys R Us HEB Sam's Club Walgreens CVS Kroger