Dollarama, Amazon, and WestJet are among the most trusted brands in Canada.
According to market research firm BrandSpark International, the second annual national study has winners for Canada’s major services and retail categories, including brick and mortar and e-commerce for 2017.
“Shoppers look to retailers that they trust to deliver great value, strong selection, quality goods, and when online, timely delivery,” said Robert Levy, President of BrandSpark International. “Canadians say their trust in a brand is greatly increased by personal experience, responsiveness, transparency, fair pricing, and the endorsements of other consumers.”
Brick & Mortar Retail Winners
According to this year’s report, the Canadian retail landscape has strong regional players and the most trusted retailers vary across the country in many categories.
Six retailers lead their categories from coast-to-coast, including Dollarama (discount stores), Canadian Tire (auto parts & accessories), Sleep Country Canada (mattresses), Best Buy (electronics), Walmart (houseware/kitchenware) and Toys “R” Us (toys and games) even though Toys “R” Us recently filed for creditor protection.
Another retailer that recently announced closing its doors is Sears, which shows up on the list as the most trusted retailer for major appliances.
“Now that Sears has decided to liquidate all of its stores and cease operations in Canada we can expect fierce competition from other retailers to fill the void. This could present some great opportunities for Canadian shoppers,” said Levy.
E-Commerce Retail Winners
As far as online shopping goes, Canadians are evolving. According to the BrandSpark Canadian Shopper Study, seven in ten Canadians shop online in a typical month and online shoppers expect to make a larger share of purchases online in the coming year.
“As the retailers that Canadian shoppers know and trust continue to build their presence on e-commerce, we expect to see trusted brick and mortar brands become more prominent online,” said Levy.
And when it comes to online, Amazon tops all retailers.
Most Trusted Services Brands
For the first time, the BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards program expanded to include service categories. The new categories show WestJet topping the Canadian airline brands, Telus winning its mobile telecom category, and RBC and TD tying the top spot for banking.
More than 5,000 respondents were surveyed this year to determine the 2017 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards retail winners. The report states that results were ranked based on the greatest volume of mentions, and if the difference between retailers or services nationally was less than three percent, ties were declared.