Full Breakdown
Meijer Claims Top Spot in 2026 Convenience-Store Satisfaction Survey
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Meijer Leads ACSI Rankings
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released its 2026 Convenience-Store Study in October 2026, ranking Michigan-based Meijer as the nation’s highest-scoring convenience-store brand with an 82-point score. The result marks a five-point rise from Meijer’s 78 in the 2025 survey and the largest improvement among all participants.
Background & Context
The ACSI survey evaluates convenience-store performance based on customer feedback collected from 9,475 randomly selected shoppers who were emailed between October 2025 and September 2026. The study measures factors such as location, hours, checkout speed, food quality, mobile-app experience, and bathroom cleanliness. In the 2025 report, Kwik Trip held the top spot with an 84 rating, while Buc-ee’s earned a 79.
Data & Statistics
- Meijer: 82 (up 5 from 2025) – rank 1
- QuikTrip, Sheetz, Wawa: 80 – tied for 2nd
- Kwik Trip: 79 (down 6 from 84) – tied for 5th
- Buc-ee’s: 77 (down 3 from 79) – tied for 7th
- Overall industry satisfaction fell 1 % to 75.
- Food accounts for 28 % of inside sales; 15 % of prepared-food visits could have been to a quick-service restaurant.
- Mobile-app quality dropped 5 % and bathroom cleanliness, measured for the first time, scored 74.
Official Statements & Responses
He emphasized that expanding services—mobile ordering, loyalty programs, and fuel rewards—raise customer expectations for store organization, app performance, and cleanliness.
The ACSI report highlighted Meijer Express’s integration with the retailer’s mPerks loyalty program, which lets shoppers earn and redeem points across groceries, merchandise, and fuel, and cited continued price investment and new store openings as drivers of the score increase.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Convenience stores are asking customers to do more inside the store and more on the app than ever before. Order ahead, scan loyalty cards, redeem offers, pick up food. Customers are willing to engage with all of it,” — Forrest Morgeson, ACSI research director
Why It Matters
Meijer’s ascent reflects a broader shift in the convenience-store sector toward grocery-style offerings and integrated loyalty ecosystems. The strong performance of Meijer Express suggests that consumers value the convenience of combined fuel, food, and retail rewards, pressuring rivals to enhance digital experiences and store upkeep. The decline in mobile-app ratings and the introduction of bathroom-cleanliness metrics indicate new quality benchmarks that could influence future store designs and staffing priorities.
What’s Next
Meijer has announced plans to open a 76,000-square-foot grocery-only store with a gas station in Clinton Township, slated for spring 2028, and a future supercenter in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. The retailer’s expansion into the Pittsburgh market and continued rollout of mPerks-linked Express locations signal an intent to leverage its top-ranking status to capture additional market share in the Midwest and beyond.