Walmart is the clear favorite in the U.S. supermarket market, preferred by nearly one in three American shoppers, according to new findings from Conjointly Brand Tracker released April 20.
The expanded coverage of Conjointly Brand Tracker includes U.S. supermarket chains, shedding light on brand performance across the competitive sector.
Market at a glance
Walmart stands alone at the top in awareness (86 percent), consideration (69 percent), recent purchase (70 percent) and preferred brand status (31 percent).
The retailer also turned one in three shoppers who know it into devoted fans. Kroger, Costco and Aldi followed at a distance as national brands.
The real surprises were regional, with H-E-B converting 53 percent of its shoppers into committed fans, the highest of any chain.
On perception, Walmart led the category on brand trust (92 percent), ahead of ShopRite (89 percent) and Ralphs (88 percent).
Walmart also topped the market on assortment (91 percent), price value (90 percent), convenience (86 percent), availability (83 percent) and fresh produce (80 percent).
Initial findings
Walmart commanded a dominant presence in the U.S. supermarket landscape, leading across all tracking metrics: 86 percent aided awareness, 69 percent consideration, 70 percent past-six-month purchase and 31 percent preferred brand.
It was followed by Target at 72 percent awareness and Aldi at 70 percent, reflecting an established and competitive market, with multiple brands exceeding 60 percent awareness.
Aldi and Costco ranked second on consideration, at 41 percent and 34 percent, respectively. They also ranked second on past-six-month purchase, at 33 percent and 28 percent, respectively, and on preferred brand among non-Walmart chains at 8 percent each.
The performance demonstrated the ability to convert recognition into genuine loyalty. The next similarly preferred chain is Kroger at 7 percent, with relatively lower awareness of 58 percent.
Conversion tells a story
Walmart led all chains with a 36 percent awareness-to-preferred conversion rate, turning more than one in three people who know the brand into loyal advocates who name it their favorite supermarket.
Among other nationally recognized chains, Kroger, Costco and Aldi also achieved strong awareness-to-preferred conversion rates at 13 percent, 11 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Some of the more interesting observations involved chains that fewer people have heard of but whose shoppers love them.
As a regional chain, WinCo Foods converted 16 percent of aware consumers to preference. H-E-B, another regional brand with similarly modest awareness of about 20 percent, converted more than half of those who try it into devoted regulars, the highest trial-to-loyalty conversion rate of any chain analyzed.
Perception and trust
Consumer perception data revealed further differentiation across the market.
Walmart scored highest on assortment (91 percent), price value (90 percent), convenience (86 percent), availability (83 percent) and fresh produce (80 percent) among all tracked brands.
Aldi performed notably on price value (81 percent) and convenience (76) percent, while H-E-B performed well on price value (80 percent) and fresh produce (78 percent).
ShopRite performed well on assortment (80 percent), availability (76 percent) and price value (74 percent), suggesting strong perceived delivery on core functional promises for regional shoppers.
As for brand trust, Walmart led (92 percent), ahead of ShopRite (89 percent) and Ralphs (88 percent), all well above the category average.
Scale is not the only path
Nik Samoylov, founder of Conjointly, said the data makes clear that market leadership can take more than one form.
“In the U.S. supermarket market, strong national leaders coexist with a long tail of regional players,” Samoylov said.
“Walmart is the clear leader on awareness, but the data shows that scale is not the only way to win loyalty. H-E-B and WinCo Foods prove that a sharp focus on value, trust and quality can generate disproportionate brand equity even from a much smaller awareness base.”
Methodology and access
The findings are based on a syndicated study of 1,427 U.S. adult consumers, with 1,089 qualifying respondents confirming they had purchased groceries or items from a supermarket chain in the past 30 days.
Participants were recruited through Conjointly’s panel network and compensated for their time, with the sample weighted to national demographics to ensure findings are market-representative.
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