Cellarbrations has won the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction ‘Best of the Best’ Award for 2021 for the first time. The award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 37 winners in the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.

Cellarbrations is the first liquor store to win the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ Award and breaks the four year streak of the ‘Car Manufacturer of the Year’ category which had wins in the ‘Best of the Best’ Award for Isuzu UTE in 2018 and 2020 and Lexus in 2017 and 2019.

Cellarbrations also won Liquor Store of the Year, the first time it has taken out the award. The banner is part of Metcash’s Independent Brands Australia network.

ALM CEO Chris Baddock said: “As the saying goes, success has many friends. This is spot on in this case with so much commitment from our independent retailers, our supplier partners and the entire team at IBA ALM who are all dedicated to championing successful independents.

“Cellarbrations is a wonderful example of the local independent retailer servicing their local community with the right range and service, while using the national retailer services and scale provided by Independent Brands Australia (IBA).”

The victory for Cellarbrations was built on the back of eight straight monthly victories in the Liquor Store of the Year category from March to October 2021. Cellarbrations had average customer satisfaction of an exceptional 96.6% in 2021 to beat Car Manufacturer of the Year Isuzu UTE (six monthly victories) by the barest of margins in second place on an average of 96.1%.

The data that determines the winners comes from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey compiled from in-depth interviews with more than 60,000 consumers from all around Australia.

Respondents name the companies they deal with in various categories across more than 30 industries, including Automotive, Banking, Supermarket and Telecommunications, and rate how satisfied they are with them. Monthly Customer Satisfaction winners are cited in each category throughout the year, with the annual award going to the company with the most of these wins.

Michele Levine, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Morgan says Cellarbrations has performed exceptionally well during 2021 providing an ‘essential service’ to millions of Australians during a year of extensive lockdowns – particularly in Australia’s largest cities.

“Cellarbrations notched up eight straight monthly victories during 2021 and is the first Liquor Store to take out the presitigious Roy Morgan ‘Best of the Best’ Award. Cellarbrations had an average customer satisfaction of 96.6% in 2021 to just edge out defending champion Isuzu UTE on 96.1%,” she said.

“Liquor stores were considered essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic and Australians forced to spend extended periods at home were able to frequent the stores to keep supplies of their favourite drop topped up. Rival store First Choice Liquor finished a close second to Isuzu UTE in last year’s ‘Best of the Best Award’ during the first year of the pandemic.”

Levine said 2021 was the second – and hopefully final – year heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenging circumstances many companies stepped up and provided high levels of customer satisfaction; including seven first-time winners:

“We have now come through a second year of COVID-19 and with a highly vaccinated population we are starting to put the pandemic behind us. Although the pandemic proved tough for many businesses there were also others that thrived were recorded with high levels of customer satisfaction.

“Although the last two years have provided an unprecedented challenge to the way of doing business for many companies the emergence of inflation around the world, including in Australia during the last few months, presents a new challenge many are now facing for the first time.

“The ABS inflation reading for the year to March 2022 showed inflation hitting an annual rate of 5.1% – the highest for over 20 years – and the likelihood is that it will continue to increase in the months ahead. Rising prices will test the abilities of companies to keep their customers satisfied during the remainder of this year and into the future.

“The 33 businesses honoured in this year’s Roy Morgan Annual Customer Satisfaction Awards have thrived despite the adversity of 2021 and can look forward with confidence to deal with the new challenges of rising prices and interest rates having satisfied their customers at a higher level than any of their competitors.”

The winners list

Bank of the Year – Bank First (NEW)

Major Bank of the Year – Commonwealth Bank

Building Society / Credit Union of the Year – Newcastle Permanent Building Society

General Insurer of the Year – RACT

Major General Insurer of the Year – RAC

Private Health Insurer of the Year – Defence Health

Major Private Health Insurer of the Year – ahm

Not for Profit or Restricted – Defence Health

Risk & Life Insurer of the Year – Allianz

Major Risk & Life Insurer of the Year – OnePath

Retail Super Fund of the Year – OnePath

Major Retail Super Fund of the Year – OnePath

Industry Super Fund of the Year – Cbus (NEW)

Major Industry Super Fund of the Year – HOSTPLUS (NEW)

Auto Store of the Year – Autopro (NEW)

Coffee Shop of the Year – Donut King

Clothing Store of the Year – Suzanne Grae

Department Store of the Year – Myer

Discount Department Store of the Year – Costco

Discount Variety Store of the Year – The Reject Shop

Furniture/Electrical Store of the Year – JB Hi-Fi

Major Furniture/Electrical Store of the Year – JB Hi-Fi

Hardware Store of the Year – Bunnings Warehouse

Chemist/Pharmacy of the Year – Discount Drug Stores

Quick Service Restaurant of the Year – Grill’d

Major Quick Service Restaurant of the Year – Subway

Liquor Store of the Year – Cellarbrations (NEW)

Shoe Store of the Year – Skechers (NEW)

Sports Store of the Year – Rebel

Supermarket of the Year – ALDI

Internet Service Provider of the Year – Aussie Broadband

Mobile Handset Provider of the Year – Apple iPhone

Mobile Phone Service Provider of the Year – ALDImobile

Electricity Provider of the Year – Powershop

Gas Provider of the Year – Kleenheat

Car Manufacturer of the Year – Isuzu UTE

Major Car Manufacturer of the Year – Subaru (NEW)

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