HOUSTON — It’s a big honor for a Texas grocer. H-E-B was just named the top grocery retailer in the U.S. It’s the fourth time in eight years that H-E-B has taken the top spot in the survey.
The ranking is from dunnhumby’s Annual Retailer Preference Index (RPI), which surveyed more than 11,000 consumers and focused on price, promotion, and rewards. It included 72 of the largest U.S. grocery retailers.
H-E-B was recognized for what the survey said were better savings, quality, shopping experience, and product selection. It’s one of three regional supermarkets that made the top five in the survey. Those five are:
- H-E-B (Regional Supermarket)
- Market Basket (Regional Supermarket)
- Costco (Club Format)
- WinCo Foods (Regional Supermarket)
- Aldi (Discount Format)
The survey also noted some shopping trends. Amazon, which was the top retailer in 2021-22 fell to sixth. According to the survey, the importance of digital shopping, while still important, decreased.
So, what’s the key to consumers? According to the survey, savings topped the list. That includes pricing and reward programs being offered to shoppers. Other pillars of success include quality, operations, convenience, and digital, even though digital declined slightly in 2024.
“This year’s RPI shows that the fundamentals still apply as H-E-B has proven year over year. Any format can win,” Matt O’Grady, dunnhumby’s President of the Americas, said in a news release. “The first step is to understand your customers and how customers perceive you. Secondly, prioritize efforts to save your customers money that is consistent with your positioning. And finally, use the RPI as a framework to help you determine where you should invest and where you should make tradeoffs.”
You can read more about the survey and key findings here.