US Customers Losing Satisfaction With Apparel Brands

After 2 years of improvement, customer satisfaction with apparel companies has fallen in 2011, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The index for apparel companies in November 2011 dropped 3.6% year-over-year, down from 83 to 80 on ACSI’s 100-point scale. A 4.8% downturn for the aggregate of the smaller companies studied was responsible for the majority of the decline, although just one of the 5 largest manufacturers, Hanesbrands, experienced an increase, rising 1.2% from a score of 81 to 82. V.F. Corporation retained the industry lead, despite registering a 2.4% drop to a score of 83, while at the bottom of the industry, Jones Group fell 2.5% to 79 to tie Liz Claiborne (unchanged) and the aggregate of smaller brands. Satisfaction with Jones has fallen each of the past 3 years after reaching an all-time high of 84 in 2008. (more…)