Ace high in survey

Fewer home improvement shoppers are asking for assistance. More home improvement shoppers care about store facilities. And the sales staff factor remains a leading consideration in customer satisfaction.

Those are some of the general findings of the third J.D. Power and Associates Home Improvement Retail Store Study. The study also ranked stores by name, with a familiar result. Ace Hardware earned the highest numbers for the third consecutive year.

Ace had a score of 792 on a 1,000-point scale and performed particularly well in the sales staff and store facility factors, the study said. Lowe’s (779), Menards (774), True Value (774) and Home Depot (753) followed in the rankings.

The study measures customer satisfaction with home improvement retail stores based on performance in five categories: merchandise, price, sales staff, sales/promotions and store facility.

More than 8,000 money-spending customers weighed in on the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey of home improvement retailers.

There was some movement in the general preferences of the home improvement shopper. For instance, the study found that 51% of shoppers asked the sales staff for assistance during their most recent visit to a home improvement retail store, down from 61% in 2008.

Twenty-nine percent of customers report shopping at their primary home improvement retailer more than once per month. Overall, 8% of customers report shopping at their primary home improvement retailer once per week.

“Many home improvement store chains have had to reduce the size of their sales staff to remain competitive in this tough economy, so those chains that have a sufficient, well-trained and helpful sales staff have a competitive advantage,” said Dale Haines, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

Additionally, customers spend approximately 76% of their total home improvement budget at their primary home improvement retailer.

The 2009 Home Improvement Retail Store Study is based on responses from 8,186 consumers who purchased a home improvement product or service within the previous 12 months from a store that sells home improvement products. Consumers were asked to evaluate their primary home improvement retailer. The study was fielded in March and April 2009.