Retail giants including Tesco, Primark and Amazon are among the most distrusted brands by UK consumers, according to new research.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults by the Liquidation Centre found McDonalds, Tesco and Amazon are the top three least trusted brands in the UK, in a top 10 list that also features Asda, Primark, Starbucks, Apple, Greggs, Sainsbury’s and Ryanair.
Respondents cited as cost as the single biggest factor behind lost trust, with 26% of those surveyed citing high prices as the main reason they no longer trust a brand, well ahead of other concerns. One consumer surveyed said they were “paying more every week but getting less for it”, while another said prices had “gone up without any noticeable improvement in quality”.
Technology and ecommerce brands are not immune. Amazon and Apple both feature on the list, suggesting that convenience and scale alone are no longer enough to maintain loyalty in a more price-conscious environment.
Across sectors, customer experience also plays a significant role. Nearly one in five respondents cite poor service as a reason for losing trust, while more than 30% link trust issues to service and quality concerns overall.
Expectation gap
This growing distrust points to an escalating gap between customer expectations and what brands and retailers are actually delivering. While many brands and retailers are offering more rewards and more complex loyalty schemes, many customers still believe they fall short on value. As Richard Hunt, director at Liquidation Centre, says: “People are not expecting perfection, but they do expect fairness. If prices go up, they want to feel the quality and service still justify it. When that balance disappears, trust goes with it, and once that is lost, it is very difficult to win back.”
Pointing out that customers are “paying much closer attention to the everyday value they are getting” – something that’s been in the spotlight recently with the reaction on social media to Lidl’s new Points Plus scheme, which many Lidl customers have claimed is less generous than the old one – he added: “Small frustrations add up over time, whether that is higher prices, poorer service or just feeling like standards have slipped.”
Problem for retailers
In a highly competitive retail environment where consumers are counting every penny and increasingly spending only on essentials, the perception that so many household names are distrusted brands suggests that retailers cannot rely on either existing customer loyalty or rewards schemes as a smokescreen for a weak value proposition. Value is what customers are looking for – and retailers need to be sure they are delivering it.
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