M&S was the highest-rated food retailer for customer satisfaction in the July edition of the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI).
The retail food sector scored 80.6 overall, 2.3 points above the UK all-sector score. Food retail’s score was flat compared with July 2025 and down 0.3 points from January.
M&S’ food business led the sector with a score of 85.7, followed by Ocado (82.6) and Aldi (82.2).
Iceland came bottom out of 11 scoring 76.6, with Morrisons (77.2) in 10th place.
The Institute of Customer Service, which conducted the research, pointed to a correlation between sales growth and customer satisfaction. Food retailers that outperformed their sector by at least one point in the UKCSI increased sales by an average of 4.3% compared with overall market growth of just 2.3, it said [12 w/e 17 May 2026].
The three main areas that customers believe food retailers should improve are availability of products and services (16.1%), having more staff available (12.3%), and friendlier or more helpful staff (11.7%), the ICS said.
The most important aspects of service to customers were speed of service, transparent costs, and being able to speak to someone needed.
More than one in 10 consumers (12.7%) experienced a problem with a food retailer, an increase of 0.5ppts compared with a year ago. The key issues were quality, availability and product or service suitability.
Nationwide received the highest overall score in the long-running barometer, with banks & building societies overtaking the retail sector for the first time in the survey’s history.
The UKCSI is a twice-a-year online survey of over 15,000 nationally representative consumers, including 4,000 who answered questions about food retailers. Participants rated their experience of a specific organisation in the previous three months, with the final scores weighted by how important consumers said the various elements of customer service were.
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