Across industries, improvement in CX leads to growth in total revenue. Facing stiff competition on- and off-line, retailers need to invest in superior CX to differentiate themselves and foster the loyalty of empowered customers. However, consumers tell us that the opposite is happening. In 2017, we saw both traditional and digital-only retailers’ CX quality slip.

Using the feedback of over 118,000 US adults, Forrester benchmarked 50 US retailers on how well their customer experience strengthens customer loyalty. Only four of thirty-six traditional retailers and six of fourteen digital-only retailers made the cut for our “good” category.

Here’s a peek at the results:

  • PetSmart ranks first for traditional retailers. PetSmart climbed four places to capture the top spot. Behind PetSmart’s rise: effective experiences. PetSmart’s comprehensive offerings, from pet supplies to obedience classes, and convenient fulfillment options elevated the one-stop-shop for pet owners to top dog.
  • Neiman Marcus receives top marks for emotion. The Dallas-based department store’s investments in customer service and free shipping and returns paid off: Neiman Marcus received the highest score for emotion of all the retailers we measured.
  • Etsy takes first place for digital-only retailers. Etsy is a perennial CX champion and captured the top spot in our 2017 evaluation. More customers said they felt very positive about their most recent interaction with Etsy than any other digital-only retailer, noting prompt and pleasant interactions with Etsy sellers and the indie marketplace’s unique product assortment.

To see the complete results, see The US Traditional Retailers Customer Experience Index, 2017 and The US Digital-Only Retailers Customer Experience Index, 2017.