Costco is the nation’s most trusted grocery brand, and has risen to fourth on the overall list of retail brands, according to OC&C Strategy Consultant’s 2025 Retail Proposition Index. Coles and Woolworths remain outside the overall top 10 and place behind competitors Costco, Aldi, Harris Farm and IGA in the grocery category.
Bunnings takes the top spot of Australia’s favourite retailer, with Harris Farm and Aldi reaching new heights—10th and 5th respectively.
OC&C’s RPI asked 5,078 Australian shoppers for their attitudes towards 100 retailers, with whom they had shopped with in the previous three months, split across 16 categories. Now in its fifth year, the RPI shows that shoppers reward retailers based on trust, clarity of proposition and perceived value for money.
Neither of Australia’s national supermarkets have appeared in the overall top 10 since the height of the pandemic. In the grocery category, Aussie shoppers reported Coles and Woolies unfavourably compared to leader Costco, scoring them worse value for money (-18 and -14 points respectively); less fun to shop (both -19); and that they feel less pride in shopping with the dominant grocery brands (-13 and -11 respectively).
Since OC&C launched the RPI in 2021, Coles and Woolies have seen substantial declines in key metrics including ‘trust’ (-11.8 and -8.4 points respectively); ‘low prices’ (-15.4 and -9.7 respectively); and ‘customer service’ (-6.2 and -5.7); although the supermarkets did show small improvements on a number of metrics since 2024.
“Last year we saw ‘corner‑shop values’ return as trust in the majors frayed. With inflation and interest rates easing, Australians are backing their power to choose rather than buying out of necessity, and brands that have specialist propositions, rather than just being ‘big and available’ are winning,” said Jeremy Barker, managing partner, OC&C Strategy Consultants Australia.
“Brand trust is still the best guarantee of long term market share, and shoppers make it clear that fair prices, reliable products, and honest communication, particularly about pricing, are what win their loyalty. The high ranking retailers are those that make these elements central to their proposition, rather than just talking the talk.”
Liquorland Hot On The Hills Of Dan Murphy’s
Dan Murphy’s remains the nation’s favourite liquor retailer, a crown it has held since OC&C first launched RPI in Australia, in 2021. This year, Dan’s continued to win on cross-category leaderboards including Reliability and Product Quality however, its grip on the liquor retail category is slipping. Aussie shoppers reduced their score for Dan’s across key metrics including product variety, product suitability and reliability (-4 points across all categories).
The findings hold weight for Coles, which is pressing ahead with a one-brand play, retiring Vintage Cellars and First Choice and converting stores to Liquorland Cellars and Liquorland Warehouse respectively, with a national rollout due to complete by year end 2025.
“Dan’s remains the liquor benchmark, but competitors are catching up on trust, variety and product suitability. Our data suggested they’ve over‑emphasised owned and exclusive labels at the expense of the big brands younger drinkers want, particularly in beer and premix. Dan’s could have a real fight on its hands in 2026 as Liquorland re-organises and we expect this battle to centre on curation, convenience and culture as much as everyday price,” added Barker.
Gen Z Harshly Rates Grocery Brands
Gen Z has become the toughest audience in grocery, rating all brands more harshly—but the gap between Coles and Woolworths is widening. Coles has seen ratings collapse among Gen Z, while Woolworths, performs comparatively better.
Younger grocery shoppers (Millennials and Gen Z) are even more focused on a clear proposition. They report shopping at Harris Farm (47 per cent) and Costco (47 per cent) versus Coles (16 per cent) and Woolies (29 per cent), because they understand what these brands stand for and how they fi t into the weekly routine.
By comparison, older shoppers (Gen X and Baby Boomers) are more firmly rooted to Coles (84 per cent) and Woolies (71 per cent). The big grocery brand bucking this trend is Aldi, which has been shopped by 80 per cent of Gen X and Baby Boomers.
One value that has seen a resurgence in influence is sustainability. Between 2023 and 2024, the proportion of shoppers reporting that it actively influenced shopping decisions fell from 31 per cent to 24 per cent.
However, sustainability concerns rebounded in 2025, with 30 per cent of shoppers reporting it actively infl uences their behaviour, and a further 32 per cent saying they are conscious of it when they shop. Gen Z are even more influenced by this, with 40 per cent reporting they actively shop sustainably.
