Myer is among one of the most improved retailers in Roy Morgan’s latest ‘Net Trust’ rankings.
The ranking comes as retailers experience record retail sales growth – the latest data for March 2022 shows retail sales growth of 9.4% compared to March 2021.
This is more than four times faster than pre-pandemic annual retail sales growth of 1.9% (January and February 2020).
The retail sales ‘boom’ has coincided with big gains in trust for Australia’s leading retailers who comprised seven of the top ten most trusted brands in the 12 months to March 2022.
The top five most trusted brands in March 2022 were Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings Warehouse, ALDI and Kmart in fifth place and all unchanged from the prior quarter.
Big improvers in the Top 20 were led by Myer, which continued to improve and was up two places to seventh, Apple which increased six places and entered the top 10 in ninth, Bendigo Bank which was up two places to 14th, JB Hi-Fi which was up one place to 18th and David Jones which re-entered the Top 20.
Roy Morgan data scientists analysed nominations from more than 20,000 Australians to identify the nation’s 20 most trusted brands, and 20 most distrusted brands.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine notes the new environment of rising inflation and interest rates presents a new challenge for brands and businesses looking to maintain and increase their trust – and minimise their distrust – with customers dealing with a fast-rising cost of living:
“The last two years have proven to be good ones for Australia’s supermarkets and big retailers. Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, Bunnings Warehouse and Kmart have consistently ranked in the top five most trusted brands in Australia and this trend hasn’t changed in the early months of 2022.
“Importantly, there were several brands that increased their net trust ratings significantly in the first quarter of March 2022. Technology brand Apple had the biggest improvement – rising six places to ninth overall.
“Respondents who trust Apple noted several aspects of Apple’s services that stand out including that ‘their privacy and security is much higher of a priority than competitors’, ‘Apple’s technology is useful and designed well – I use them extensively at home’, ‘I have used Apple’s products my entire working career.’ and ‘They have always tried to develop user-centred products’.
“Other brands to improve included department store Myer, up two places to seventh, the Bendigo Bank, up two places to 14th, electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi, up one spot to 18th and upmarket department store David Jones which re-entered the Top 20.”