Roy Morgan has named Woolworths as Australia’s Most Trusted Brand, alongside other category winners, Bunnings, Kmart and Toyota in the Trusted Brand Awards for 2023.
All 20 of the winning brands have demonstrated their market leading performance by emerging ahead of all competitors in their respective categories.
The Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards recognise the outstanding levels of trust built up by 20 brands across a range of different industries and services including Supermarkets, Retail, Department & Discount Department Stores, Services, Charities, Automotive, Superannuation, Insurance, Utilities, Government Services, Media, Mining & Petroleum, Banks, Telecommunications and more.
Several of the Trusted Brand Award winners appeared in the overall Top 20 Most Trusted Brands in the most recent quarter led by Woolworths, Bunnings, Kmart, Toyota, ABC, NRMA, Bendigo Bank and Australia Post – all of which scored highly and challenged for top spot.
The ultimate winner as the ‘Best of the Best’ Most Trusted Brand for a second consecutive year is Woolworths which has consistently rated as the Most Trusted Brand over the last three challenging years since taking the honour from Bunnings.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine commented: “The last few years have certainly provided their challenges with a once in a century pandemic transitioning into a period of high inflation and rising interest rates. Inflation has been at its highest for over 30 years and interest rates have increased at their most rapid rate this century.
“Despite the incredible differences these circumstances present, we have found the vast majority of Australia’s most trusted brands have backed up their performance from a year ago and confirmed their market leading positions with consecutive wins in their categories,” Levine said.
Respondents to the survey rated Woolworths highly for quality products, focusing clearly on the needs of customers, reliability, and community-mindedness.
Typical comments from respondents were that Woolworths has “A great loyalty program, good customer service and good weekly specials”, that “They communicate frequently, care about their customers and are transparent” and “Woolworths cares about the farmers and suppliers. They look after their customers and their staff.”
Another indicative comment about Woolworths included ‘Products are always in good condition. Transparent and open about why something isn’t in stock. Woolworths will add products to the local shop by popular demand and they have friendly and reliable staff’.
On Woolies’ win, Levine said: “The Supermarket industry finds itself navigating an increasingly volatile landscape with cost-of-living pressures, and aggressive, even violent customer behaviour. Trust is not a static achievement; it is continually tested, particularly in supermarkets.”
