Amazon ranks number one in customer satisfaction

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Mar 18, 2017

In the annual American Customer Service Index rankings, Amazon has taken home tops honors. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO told the press, “Customer obsession is the very heart of our approach, and it’s energizing to see customers respond.”

The ACSI ranks each company individually on a scale of 0-100. Amazon was the highest-ranking company, earning an 86 on the scale.

Dillards was close behind Amazon's first place, ranking at 83, followed by JC Penney at 82. Nordstrom placed in a three-way tie with Dollar Tree and Belk at 80. Macy’s, Kohl’s and Target sat at 79, and Ross sat at 76.

Much of Amazon’s success is due to the ‘customer-first’ culture Amazon promotes. Every employee in Amazon has to work in the customer service department for a day every year to ensure that employees remember Amazon exists because of the consumer. Amazon understands customer’s needs – like the need for express shipping – and caters services, like Amazon Prime, to those customers needs. Even though customers are paying for such service – at a rate of $79 in Canada and $99 in the U.S. – they feel rewarded for getting their items without the wait.  

This is a slight jump for Amazon in comparison to the last few years. Amazon sat at a ranking of 82 in 2014 and hit a ranking of 80 in 2015. 

In honor of the win, Amazon decided to celebrate with a bit of philanthropy. On March 16, 5% of all purchases on AmazonSmile, Amazon’s charitable retail site, went towards the charitable organization of the consumer's choice. 
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The ACSI, a national economic indicator ranking, quizzed over 12,000 consumers on how various brands rank in terms of quality and value. The ranking is based on six industries: department and discount stores, gas stations, drug stores, specialty retail stores, supermarkets, and online retailer. Each industry is compared on a year-to-year basis.