Dan Murphy's, 1st Choice get Satisfaction

By Andrew Starke

Preliminary results from the latest Roy Morgan Liquor Retailing Report for liquor retailers show Dan Murphy’s and 1st Choice at the head of the field for customer satisfaction.

Both retailers had small declines in customer satisfaction in the September result but they continue to rate significantly above the competition.

Among Dan Murphy’s customers 91.3 percent (down 1.1 percent since June ‘09) were satisfied, closely followed by 1st Choice with 89.8 percent (down 0.9 percent from June ‘09).

There follows a large gap to the next group of stores led by LiquorLand (81.5 percent), who have taken over the third position, and BWS at 80.2 percent, who have dropped to fourth position.

Woolworths’ Liquor continued its improvement at 77 percent for the 12 months’ average to September 2009.

Director of Business Development for Roy Morgan Research, Norman Woodcock, said the preliminary results from the soon to be released Liquor Retailing report clearly highlight that customers love the big store format of Dan Murphy’s and 1ST Choice, despite the small decline in customer satisfaction in the latest period.

“Range and value are two key factors driving their success, with proximity to home another driver,” he said. “It is therefore not surprising to see so many new store openings for Dan Murphy’s and 1st Choice, which is also driving their growth. Both stores are showing significant growth in their customer numbers and market share, whereas customer numbers for LiquorLand and Woolworths’ Liquor are flat at best.”

The Liquor Retailing report, due to be released later this month (February), will show a decline in customer numbers and market share for LiquorLand and Woolworths’ Liquor as more and more customers move to the warehouse/liquor barn format of Dan Murphy’s and 1st Choice.