Customers give commissary high marks in new annual survey

  • Published
  • By Rick Brink
  • Defense Commissary Agency
FORT LEE, Va. --  Customers gave their stores a solid overall grade of "A" in the 2012 Commissary Customer Service Survey.

"Bottom line, 'Great job!' is what our customers told us," said Joseph H. Jeu, Defense Commissary Agency director and CEO. "Part of our strategic vision is to better understand our customers, and that's what we're doing with our survey."

The 14 survey questions let customers rate commissaries on 13 customer service topics and overall performance. Here are the categories and the customer ratings:

1. Low prices/overall savings                                           4.56
2. Well stocked, full shelves                                             4.51
3. Convenient hours                                                          4.63
4. Cleanliness of entrances, sales area, restroom    4.66
5. Produce quality/selection                                             4.54
6. Meat quality/selection                                                    4.65
7. Deli quality/selection                                                     4.60
8. Bakery quality/selection                                                4.54
9. Selection of other food items (dry, frozen & dairy)   4.62
10. Store layout and time required to shop                   4.61
11. Checkout waiting time                                                4.58
12. Attractive displays/store décor                                   4.60
13. Courteous, friendly and helpful employees            4.78
14. Overall satisfaction (How are we doing?)               4.71
                                                         Overall Score             4.61

"The overall 4.61 score equates to an 'A' grade," said Barry White, a DeCA Headquarters operations research analyst who conducts the survey.

Nearly 20,500 customers participated in the survey, beginning July 13, which was conducted over a 10-day period at all commissaries worldwide. The survey was administered during morning, midday and evening hours, including normal days, weekends and paydays, allowing DeCA to capture responses from all types of shoppers. Customers rated their responses from one being "poor" to five being "excellent." The topics and overall scores are weighed by commissary sales.

This year's survey marks a ratings change that better reflects customers' opinions and sets a new survey baseline, White explained.

The top rating in previous surveys was "very good," and customers consistently gave very high marks under that system, with a score of 4.72 last year. The new rating system provides better statistical identification of areas where commissaries can improve.

"We use detailed reports on survey results by commissary, zone and area to provide our managers demographic and shopper behavior information about our customers to help us ensure our commissaries are worth the trip," said Jeu. "We get to know our customers better - what's most important to them and what they would like to see improved. That's good, because this helps us transition to a Commissary 2020 model that looks to keep pace with the needs of an ever-changing military."