Circuit City Outscores Peers

By Alan Wolf On Jan 9 2003 - 8:00am

Circuit City was ranked the best consumer electronics retail chain in a recent consumer study by Troy, Mich.-based communications firm Meridian Inc.

The company's quarterly RSCORE retail benchmarking study, based on phone interviews with 1,000 consumers nationwide, explores shoppers' attitudes and perceptions toward national chains by weighing such factors as merchandise selection and availability, in-store experience and overall customer satisfaction.

Circuit City scored 84 on the 100-point RSCORE index, which Meridian calls "excellent." Other channel winners: Wal-Mart (85) for discount chains, and the survey's top overall winner Walgreens (89) for drug store chains.

In a ranking of the distribution channels themselves, discount chains and consumer electronics stores tied for fourth place (82), behind warehouse clubs (83), drug stores (84) and supermarkets (86). The lowest satisfaction rankings were assigned to the home improvement and office supply channels, which were tied at 79.