Quebec was the first province to announce the reopening of retail stores, with those outside of Montreal given the all-clear to open on May 11, with the province’s largest city reopening May 22. Now, a new survey has looked to the province as a signal of what post-reopening in-store elements have the biggest impact on a customer having a positive shopping experience.

Leger compiled its report from a survey of 1,006 Quebecers at the end of May, posing open, unaided questions.

Leger found 20% of respondents cited the Sobeys’ IGA banner as a brand that “succeeded in standing out to make [their] shopping experience more pleasant” in the way they applied their health and safety measures. Tied for second, at 13%, were Loblaws’ discount grocer Maxi and Metro. In mid-May, both Metro and IGA announced heightened cleaning and sanitizing measures to ensure customer safety after a number of employees tested positive.

Rounding out the top ten were pharmacy chain Jean Coutu (12%), Walmart and Costco (10%), Canadian Tire (9%), discount supermarket Super C (6%) and Loblaw banner Provigo and Pharmaprix (5%).

The report points out that nearly all of the retailers mentioned in the survey were what had been deemed “essential” businesses in Quebec – the only one that wasn’t was Simons, which was cited by 1% of respondents.

Survey respondents were also asked about which stages in the customer journey retail brands have stood out. Elements related to service areas were cited by 60% of respondents – that included things like general preventative measures (16%), signage that directs traffic flow (13%) and in-store social distance marking (11%). Discount banners Super C, Maxi and Walmart, in particular, stood out for their in-store signage efforts regarding aisle traffic, while SAQ and Canac were praised for their general preventative measures.

Welcome areas were the next most visible, at 30%, which included hand washing or sanitization stations (24%) and disinfection of baskets and carts (7%). However, customers were most likely to take note of being asked by staff about health concerns at pharmacies, while Costco was noted for compulsory mask-wearing and Maxi for sanitizing grocery baskets.

Health and safety measures around entry areas made up 16% of responses, namely by limiting the amount of people in store, which was particularly well-done by grocery banners.

Overall customer service was cited by 9% of respondents and was an area where non-essential businesses stood out. Offering speedy and safe payment was cited by 8% of respondents, an area where SAQ stood out. Delivery and pickup had the least impact on whether a customer had a positive retail experience, cited by 7% of respondents.