Chatmeter：2025美国十大零售商巨头员工声誉排名报告：一线员工对企业声誉的影响

Retail AssociatesReputation Ranking Report HOW FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES IMPACT THE10 LARGEST RETAILERS’ REPUTATIONS Physical retailwillmake upalmost 80% of global retailsales in 2025, and storesare pulling out all the stopsto keep customer foottraffic flowing. For shoppers, in-store retail isn’tjust about the transaction–it’sabout having an experience, socialinteraction, and being able to touchand try new products. However, moreU.S. storesclosedthan opened fromJanuary to August 2024, implying thatphysical stores are struggling to meetcustomer expectations. While pop-up stores, unique experiences and sales eventscan bring customers in, frontline employees have anoutsized impact on the customer experience. Chatmeterused its AI platform, Pulse Ai, to analyze more than onemillion customer reviews of 10 of the largest physicalretailers in the U.S. and found stark differences in howthese retailers operationalize their frontline employees. While some stores receive overwhelmingly positivereviews related to staff, at others, associates diminish theexperience by treating customers rudely or ignoring them.Certain stores, like Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and Walmart,tend to have employees who go above and beyond tohelp customers. At lower ranked stores like CVS, Krogerand Walgreen’s, customers regularly complain aboutunderstaffing, poor customer service and a lack ofmanagerial oversight. The biggest theme in the report, however, isinconsistency. Even top-ranked retailers sufferfrom pockets of poor customer service, implyingthat customer service training, proper staffinglevels, and management improvements areneeded across the industry. Customers tend to blame store management for understaffing levels andpoor customer service incidents, implying that negative interactions withemployees, even if they are outliers, damage brand reputations. Some of the report’s key findings about the largestretailers in general include: Supply chain woes are easing Retail labor shortages may be improving Reviews mentioning staffing shortages declinedslightly by about 1% on average, but sentiment aroundthis issue got worse by an average of 7%. This impliesthat while some stores are addressing staff levels,customers are increasingly frustrated when therearen’t enough employees to help them. References to product shortages declined sharply by25% on average as pandemic-related supply chainissues eased, contributing to improvements in customersatisfaction at all retailers. Incidents of discrimination are on the rise Mentions of discriminatory incidents ticked up by 16.5%on average, indicating a potential issue for retailers towatch as many scale back initiatives in DEI and relatedtrainings. Stores are improving frontline operations References to long wait times declined by 16%on average, implying that retailers are focusingon operational improvements that streamline theshopping experience. However, sentiment around waittimes declined by an average of more than 6%, againindicating that customers who encounter them havehad enough. Returns persist as a customer service paint point On average, reviews mentioning returns increased by 9%and sentiment around returns declined slightly (less than2% on average). Anti-theft measures are becoming morecustomer-friendly Wage and labor policies may impactconsumer behavior Mentions of items being locked in cases surged198% on average at each retailer that does this, butsentiment improved by an average of 10.5%, implyingthat retailers’ efforts to address this issue and offeralternatives to waiting for employee assistance arestarting to work. Reviews mentioning issues like staff pay and unionsincreased by around 8.5% on average, but sentimentimproved around 13%, implying that customers are happywith recent news around improved staff pay and benefitsat retailers. METHODOLOGY Chatmeter used its platform, Pulse Ai: Signals, toanalyze more than one million Google Reviewsacross the ten largest retail chains (excludingAmazon.com and Apple Stores/iTunes given theirfocus on e-commerce). Retailers were ranked based on the average rating (out of five stars) ofreviews that mentioned customers’ experiences with retail associates instores. Chatmeter also used Signals to analyze customer feedback andsentiment around retail associates and identify opportunities for retailersto improve the performance of frontline employees. Reputation Ranking Largest Retailers’ Frontline Associates Customers of home improvementretailerLowe’s, the eighth largest retaileron our list, were generally positive aboutthe chain’s associates, highlighting theirhelpfulness and friendliness. Reviewers consistently describedemployees as welcoming and courteousand mentioned associates going aboveand beyond to assist them by helpingthem get hard-to-reach items or offering tohelp as soon as they walked into the store. Customers reported understaffed returns desks and werefrustrated by strict and seemingly unfair policies relatedto the r