RETAIL CHAMPION 2026 | EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING | RECOMMENDED BY SHOPPERS
When a Store Is Worth Recommending
Why a pleasant shopping trip and a strong recommendation are not always the same thing.
Executive Intelligence Briefing
4–6 min read
The Retail Champion 2026 results contain an interesting mismatch. DEALZ ranks third among the 21 retailers for shopping enjoyment, with 72%, yet falls to eleventh for recommendation, where its NPS is 38. BIEDRONKA is almost the reverse: only 49% of shoppers strongly agreed that shopping there is enjoyable, placing it last in that ranking, while an NPS of 42 puts it eighth for recommendation.
The two measures are not intended to describe exactly the same thing, but the distance between them is revealing. A shopper can enjoy a visit without having much reason to send somebody else to the same retailer, while another store may be less pleasant and still be easy to recommend. The more useful question is therefore not simply whether people liked the trip, but what they believe the retailer is reliably good for.
3,092
shopper surveys
Analysed in the YouGov study
21
retailers
Included in the research
July – September 2026
Fieldwork period
Members invited 1–2 days after a purchase
A reason worth recommending
DEALZ gives us one version of that reason. Part of the appeal of the format comes from discovery: finding an international brand, an unusual flavour or something that was not originally on the shopping list. That can make a visit enjoyable, although the attraction becomes harder to sustain when what once felt unusual starts appearing elsewhere. An August 2026 consumer account described exactly that change, with products previously associated with DEALZ becoming easier to find in other places.
The experience does not suddenly become poor, but the story a shopper can tell another person becomes less distinctive. “Go there, you might find something interesting” remains useful only while the retailer continues to offer something worth discovering.
For an everyday supermarket, the reason can be much less exciting. During a Retail Summit 2026 discussion about shopper value, one example was particularly simple: another store may be PLN 2 cheaper, but a shopper may still return to the place where they expect to find fresh bread, a ripe avocado and everything else needed for the week’s shopping. The attraction lies less in making the visit memorable than in removing doubt about whether the trip will do what it is supposed to do.
That helps make sense of why enjoyment and recommendation can separate. Discovery may make one visit pleasurable, while dependable everyday shopping can give people a reason to recommend a retailer even when they would not describe the experience as especially enjoyable. Different retailers can earn recommendation for very different reasons; what matters is that the reason remains clear enough to pass on and dependable enough not to disappear on the next visit.
The reason has to survive the whole visit
ROSSMANN is interesting because the two measures move together. It leads the 2026 study both for shopping enjoyment, at 91%, and for recommendation, with an NPS of 72; 77% of respondents in the NPS measure were promoters and only 5% detractors.
The company research does not point to one spectacular explanation. Instead, it shows attention to several ordinary parts of the same shopping trip. Store roles include helping customers choose products, keeping shelves replenished, communicating prices clearly, maintaining the sales floor and providing professional and friendly service, while the wider proposition includes different checkout options and tools that can help shoppers locate products.
None of those things is remarkable on its own, and that is part of the point. The shopper does not experience product availability, advice, price communication and checkout as separate management responsibilities. They arrive as one visit. A retailer may therefore have a perfectly good reason to be recommended, yet weaken it several times during the same trip if the product is missing, help is difficult to find or the final part of the purchase becomes unnecessarily complicated.
The same applies when something goes wrong. A retailer known for convenience or dependable service does not need every transaction to be perfect, but the response to an interruption still has to fit the reason people chose the retailer in the first place. The more effort customers have to invest in putting things right, the harder that original promise becomes to believe.
From recommendation to the business behind it
That is where the Retail Champion results meet the discussions taking place through the Club of 369. In the October work on shopper value, store experience and customer recovery, the same underlying issue kept appearing from different directions: a promise made to the shopper still has to survive assortment choices, store execution, frontline service and the moments when the normal journey fails.
A retailer may want to be recommended for convenience, choice, discovery, service or dependable everyday shopping, but none of those promises belongs to one department. Category decisions influence whether the right products are there, store operations determine whether the visit works under pressure, colleagues shape what happens when somebody needs help, and recovery matters when the expected journey breaks down.
STOKROTKA adds a useful signal. It gained five places in the recommendation ranking and received the 2026 Recommended by Shoppers Biggest Progress recognition. The ranking tells us that its relative position changed; the more interesting work starts with understanding what shoppers now find more worth recommending, and whether that reason can be identified and strengthened.
What do promoters actually tell other people about the retailer? Which parts of the business make that reason true during an ordinary visit? Where does it become vulnerable when stores are busy, products are unavailable or somebody needs help? And when the promise is tested, what has to happen for it to remain credible?
These are among the questions we will continue exploring through the Club of 369 and at Poland & CEE Retail Summit 2027 in Warsaw on 13–14 April 2027. A recommendation score tells us that shoppers are willing to put in a good word. Understanding exactly what they are putting in that good word for is where the more interesting work begins.
Key takeaways
Enjoying a store and recommending it can tell different stories. DEALZ ranked third for enjoyment (72%) but eleventh for recommendation (NPS 38). BIEDRONKA was last for enjoyment (49%) yet eighth for recommendation (NPS 42). The two scores measure different things.
People need a reason they can pass on. At DEALZ, finding something unusual can be part of the appeal. For a supermarket, the reason may be as simple as fresh bread and everything needed for the weekly shop. Either promise has to hold up on the next visit.
One weak moment can undermine a strong promise. ROSSMANN led both enjoyment (91%) and recommendation (NPS 72). Stock, clear prices, helpful staff and the way a retailer fixes problems all matter when shoppers decide whether to recommend it.
RETAIL CHAMPION 2026 | EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING | RECOMMENDED BY SHOPPERS
When a Store Is Worth Recommending
Why a pleasant shopping trip and a strong recommendation are not always the same thing.
Executive Intelligence Briefing
4–6 min read
The Retail Champion 2026 results contain an interesting mismatch. DEALZ ranks third among the 21 retailers for shopping enjoyment, with 72%, yet falls to eleventh for recommendation, where its NPS is 38. BIEDRONKA is almost the reverse: only 49% of shoppers strongly agreed that shopping there is enjoyable, placing it last in that ranking, while an NPS of 42 puts it eighth for recommendation.
The two measures are not intended to describe exactly the same thing, but the distance between them is revealing. A shopper can enjoy a visit without having much reason to send somebody else to the same retailer, while another store may be less pleasant and still be easy to recommend. The more useful question is therefore not simply whether people liked the trip, but what they believe the retailer is reliably good for.
3,092
shopper surveys
Analysed in the YouGov study
21
retailers
Included in the research
July – September 2026
Fieldwork period
Members invited 1–2 days after a purchase
A reason worth recommending
DEALZ gives us one version of that reason. Part of the appeal of the format comes from discovery: finding an international brand, an unusual flavour or something that was not originally on the shopping list. That can make a visit enjoyable, although the attraction becomes harder to sustain when what once felt unusual starts appearing elsewhere. An August 2026 consumer account described exactly that change, with products previously associated with DEALZ becoming easier to find in other places.
The experience does not suddenly become poor, but the story a shopper can tell another person becomes less distinctive. “Go there, you might find something interesting” remains useful only while the retailer continues to offer something worth discovering.
For an everyday supermarket, the reason can be much less exciting. During a Retail Summit 2026 discussion about shopper value, one example was particularly simple: another store may be PLN 2 cheaper, but a shopper may still return to the place where they expect to find fresh bread, a ripe avocado and everything else needed for the week’s shopping. The attraction lies less in making the visit memorable than in removing doubt about whether the trip will do what it is supposed to do.
That helps make sense of why enjoyment and recommendation can separate. Discovery may make one visit pleasurable, while dependable everyday shopping can give people a reason to recommend a retailer even when they would not describe the experience as especially enjoyable. Different retailers can earn recommendation for very different reasons; what matters is that the reason remains clear enough to pass on and dependable enough not to disappear on the next visit.
The reason has to survive the whole visit
ROSSMANN is interesting because the two measures move together. It leads the 2026 study both for shopping enjoyment, at 91%, and for recommendation, with an NPS of 72; 77% of respondents in the NPS measure were promoters and only 5% detractors.
The company research does not point to one spectacular explanation. Instead, it shows attention to several ordinary parts of the same shopping trip. Store roles include helping customers choose products, keeping shelves replenished, communicating prices clearly, maintaining the sales floor and providing professional and friendly service, while the wider proposition includes different checkout options and tools that can help shoppers locate products.
None of those things is remarkable on its own, and that is part of the point. The shopper does not experience product availability, advice, price communication and checkout as separate management responsibilities. They arrive as one visit. A retailer may therefore have a perfectly good reason to be recommended, yet weaken it several times during the same trip if the product is missing, help is difficult to find or the final part of the purchase becomes unnecessarily complicated.
The same applies when something goes wrong. A retailer known for convenience or dependable service does not need every transaction to be perfect, but the response to an interruption still has to fit the reason people chose the retailer in the first place. The more effort customers have to invest in putting things right, the harder that original promise becomes to believe.
From recommendation to the business behind it
That is where the Retail Champion results meet the discussions taking place through the Club of 369. In the October work on shopper value, store experience and customer recovery, the same underlying issue kept appearing from different directions: a promise made to the shopper still has to survive assortment choices, store execution, frontline service and the moments when the normal journey fails.
A retailer may want to be recommended for convenience, choice, discovery, service or dependable everyday shopping, but none of those promises belongs to one department. Category decisions influence whether the right products are there, store operations determine whether the visit works under pressure, colleagues shape what happens when somebody needs help, and recovery matters when the expected journey breaks down.
STOKROTKA adds a useful signal. It gained five places in the recommendation ranking and received the 2026 Recommended by Shoppers Biggest Progress recognition. The ranking tells us that its relative position changed; the more interesting work starts with understanding what shoppers now find more worth recommending, and whether that reason can be identified and strengthened.
What do promoters actually tell other people about the retailer? Which parts of the business make that reason true during an ordinary visit? Where does it become vulnerable when stores are busy, products are unavailable or somebody needs help? And when the promise is tested, what has to happen for it to remain credible?
These are among the questions we will continue exploring through the Club of 369 and at Poland & CEE Retail Summit 2027 in Warsaw on 13–14 April 2027. A recommendation score tells us that shoppers are willing to put in a good word. Understanding exactly what they are putting in that good word for is where the more interesting work begins.
Key takeaways
Enjoying a store and recommending it can tell different stories. DEALZ ranked third for enjoyment (72%) but eleventh for recommendation (NPS 38). BIEDRONKA was last for enjoyment (49%) yet eighth for recommendation (NPS 42). The two scores measure different things.
People need a reason they can pass on. At DEALZ, finding something unusual can be part of the appeal. For a supermarket, the reason may be as simple as fresh bread and everything needed for the weekly shop. Either promise has to hold up on the next visit.
One weak moment can undermine a strong promise. ROSSMANN led both enjoyment (91%) and recommendation (NPS 72). Stock, clear prices, helpful staff and the way a retailer fixes problems all matter when shoppers decide whether to recommend it.
RETAIL CHAMPION 2026 | EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING | RECOMMENDED BY SHOPPERS
When a Store Is Worth Recommending
Why a pleasant shopping trip and a strong recommendation are not always the same thing.
Executive Intelligence Briefing
4–6 min read
The Retail Champion 2026 results contain an interesting mismatch. DEALZ ranks third among the 21 retailers for shopping enjoyment, with 72%, yet falls to eleventh for recommendation, where its NPS is 38. BIEDRONKA is almost the reverse: only 49% of shoppers strongly agreed that shopping there is enjoyable, placing it last in that ranking, while an NPS of 42 puts it eighth for recommendation.
The two measures are not intended to describe exactly the same thing, but the distance between them is revealing. A shopper can enjoy a visit without having much reason to send somebody else to the same retailer, while another store may be less pleasant and still be easy to recommend. The more useful question is therefore not simply whether people liked the trip, but what they believe the retailer is reliably good for.
3,092
shopper surveys
Analysed in the YouGov study
21
retailers
Included in the research
July – September 2026
Fieldwork period
Members invited 1–2 days after a purchase
A reason worth recommending
DEALZ gives us one version of that reason. Part of the appeal of the format comes from discovery: finding an international brand, an unusual flavour or something that was not originally on the shopping list. That can make a visit enjoyable, although the attraction becomes harder to sustain when what once felt unusual starts appearing elsewhere. An August 2026 consumer account described exactly that change, with products previously associated with DEALZ becoming easier to find in other places.
The experience does not suddenly become poor, but the story a shopper can tell another person becomes less distinctive. “Go there, you might find something interesting” remains useful only while the retailer continues to offer something worth discovering.
For an everyday supermarket, the reason can be much less exciting. During a Retail Summit 2026 discussion about shopper value, one example was particularly simple: another store may be PLN 2 cheaper, but a shopper may still return to the place where they expect to find fresh bread, a ripe avocado and everything else needed for the week’s shopping. The attraction lies less in making the visit memorable than in removing doubt about whether the trip will do what it is supposed to do.
That helps make sense of why enjoyment and recommendation can separate. Discovery may make one visit pleasurable, while dependable everyday shopping can give people a reason to recommend a retailer even when they would not describe the experience as especially enjoyable. Different retailers can earn recommendation for very different reasons; what matters is that the reason remains clear enough to pass on and dependable enough not to disappear on the next visit.
The reason has to survive the whole visit
ROSSMANN is interesting because the two measures move together. It leads the 2026 study both for shopping enjoyment, at 91%, and for recommendation, with an NPS of 72; 77% of respondents in the NPS measure were promoters and only 5% detractors.
The company research does not point to one spectacular explanation. Instead, it shows attention to several ordinary parts of the same shopping trip. Store roles include helping customers choose products, keeping shelves replenished, communicating prices clearly, maintaining the sales floor and providing professional and friendly service, while the wider proposition includes different checkout options and tools that can help shoppers locate products.
None of those things is remarkable on its own, and that is part of the point. The shopper does not experience product availability, advice, price communication and checkout as separate management responsibilities. They arrive as one visit. A retailer may therefore have a perfectly good reason to be recommended, yet weaken it several times during the same trip if the product is missing, help is difficult to find or the final part of the purchase becomes unnecessarily complicated.
The same applies when something goes wrong. A retailer known for convenience or dependable service does not need every transaction to be perfect, but the response to an interruption still has to fit the reason people chose the retailer in the first place. The more effort customers have to invest in putting things right, the harder that original promise becomes to believe.
From recommendation to the business behind it
That is where the Retail Champion results meet the discussions taking place through the Club of 369. In the October work on shopper value, store experience and customer recovery, the same underlying issue kept appearing from different directions: a promise made to the shopper still has to survive assortment choices, store execution, frontline service and the moments when the normal journey fails.
A retailer may want to be recommended for convenience, choice, discovery, service or dependable everyday shopping, but none of those promises belongs to one department. Category decisions influence whether the right products are there, store operations determine whether the visit works under pressure, colleagues shape what happens when somebody needs help, and recovery matters when the expected journey breaks down.
STOKROTKA adds a useful signal. It gained five places in the recommendation ranking and received the 2026 Recommended by Shoppers Biggest Progress recognition. The ranking tells us that its relative position changed; the more interesting work starts with understanding what shoppers now find more worth recommending, and whether that reason can be identified and strengthened.
What do promoters actually tell other people about the retailer? Which parts of the business make that reason true during an ordinary visit? Where does it become vulnerable when stores are busy, products are unavailable or somebody needs help? And when the promise is tested, what has to happen for it to remain credible?
These are among the questions we will continue exploring through the Club of 369 and at Poland & CEE Retail Summit 2027 in Warsaw on 13–14 April 2027. A recommendation score tells us that shoppers are willing to put in a good word. Understanding exactly what they are putting in that good word for is where the more interesting work begins.
Key takeaways
Enjoying a store and recommending it can tell different stories. DEALZ ranked third for enjoyment (72%) but eleventh for recommendation (NPS 38). BIEDRONKA was last for enjoyment (49%) yet eighth for recommendation (NPS 42). The two scores measure different things.
People need a reason they can pass on. At DEALZ, finding something unusual can be part of the appeal. For a supermarket, the reason may be as simple as fresh bread and everything needed for the weekly shop. Either promise has to hold up on the next visit.
One weak moment can undermine a strong promise. ROSSMANN led both enjoyment (91%) and recommendation (NPS 72). Stock, clear prices, helpful staff and the way a retailer fixes problems all matter when shoppers decide whether to recommend it.
RETAIL CHAMPION 2026 | EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING | RECOMMENDED BY SHOPPERS
When a Store Is Worth Recommending
Why a pleasant shopping trip and a strong recommendation are not always the same thing.
Executive Intelligence Briefing
4–6 min read
The Retail Champion 2026 results contain an interesting mismatch. DEALZ ranks third among the 21 retailers for shopping enjoyment, with 72%, yet falls to eleventh for recommendation, where its NPS is 38. BIEDRONKA is almost the reverse: only 49% of shoppers strongly agreed that shopping there is enjoyable, placing it last in that ranking, while an NPS of 42 puts it eighth for recommendation.
The two measures are not intended to describe exactly the same thing, but the distance between them is revealing. A shopper can enjoy a visit without having much reason to send somebody else to the same retailer, while another store may be less pleasant and still be easy to recommend. The more useful question is therefore not simply whether people liked the trip, but what they believe the retailer is reliably good for.
3,092
shopper surveys
Analysed in the YouGov study
21
retailers
Included in the research
July – September 2026
Fieldwork period
Members invited 1–2 days after a purchase
A reason worth recommending
DEALZ gives us one version of that reason. Part of the appeal of the format comes from discovery: finding an international brand, an unusual flavour or something that was not originally on the shopping list. That can make a visit enjoyable, although the attraction becomes harder to sustain when what once felt unusual starts appearing elsewhere. An August 2026 consumer account described exactly that change, with products previously associated with DEALZ becoming easier to find in other places.
The experience does not suddenly become poor, but the story a shopper can tell another person becomes less distinctive. “Go there, you might find something interesting” remains useful only while the retailer continues to offer something worth discovering.
For an everyday supermarket, the reason can be much less exciting. During a Retail Summit 2026 discussion about shopper value, one example was particularly simple: another store may be PLN 2 cheaper, but a shopper may still return to the place where they expect to find fresh bread, a ripe avocado and everything else needed for the week’s shopping. The attraction lies less in making the visit memorable than in removing doubt about whether the trip will do what it is supposed to do.
That helps make sense of why enjoyment and recommendation can separate. Discovery may make one visit pleasurable, while dependable everyday shopping can give people a reason to recommend a retailer even when they would not describe the experience as especially enjoyable. Different retailers can earn recommendation for very different reasons; what matters is that the reason remains clear enough to pass on and dependable enough not to disappear on the next visit.
The reason has to survive the whole visit
ROSSMANN is interesting because the two measures move together. It leads the 2026 study both for shopping enjoyment, at 91%, and for recommendation, with an NPS of 72; 77% of respondents in the NPS measure were promoters and only 5% detractors.
The company research does not point to one spectacular explanation. Instead, it shows attention to several ordinary parts of the same shopping trip. Store roles include helping customers choose products, keeping shelves replenished, communicating prices clearly, maintaining the sales floor and providing professional and friendly service, while the wider proposition includes different checkout options and tools that can help shoppers locate products.
None of those things is remarkable on its own, and that is part of the point. The shopper does not experience product availability, advice, price communication and checkout as separate management responsibilities. They arrive as one visit. A retailer may therefore have a perfectly good reason to be recommended, yet weaken it several times during the same trip if the product is missing, help is difficult to find or the final part of the purchase becomes unnecessarily complicated.
The same applies when something goes wrong. A retailer known for convenience or dependable service does not need every transaction to be perfect, but the response to an interruption still has to fit the reason people chose the retailer in the first place. The more effort customers have to invest in putting things right, the harder that original promise becomes to believe.
From recommendation to the business behind it
That is where the Retail Champion results meet the discussions taking place through the Club of 369. In the October work on shopper value, store experience and customer recovery, the same underlying issue kept appearing from different directions: a promise made to the shopper still has to survive assortment choices, store execution, frontline service and the moments when the normal journey fails.
A retailer may want to be recommended for convenience, choice, discovery, service or dependable everyday shopping, but none of those promises belongs to one department. Category decisions influence whether the right products are there, store operations determine whether the visit works under pressure, colleagues shape what happens when somebody needs help, and recovery matters when the expected journey breaks down.
STOKROTKA adds a useful signal. It gained five places in the recommendation ranking and received the 2026 Recommended by Shoppers Biggest Progress recognition. The ranking tells us that its relative position changed; the more interesting work starts with understanding what shoppers now find more worth recommending, and whether that reason can be identified and strengthened.
What do promoters actually tell other people about the retailer? Which parts of the business make that reason true during an ordinary visit? Where does it become vulnerable when stores are busy, products are unavailable or somebody needs help? And when the promise is tested, what has to happen for it to remain credible?
These are among the questions we will continue exploring through the Club of 369 and at Poland & CEE Retail Summit 2027 in Warsaw on 13–14 April 2027. A recommendation score tells us that shoppers are willing to put in a good word. Understanding exactly what they are putting in that good word for is where the more interesting work begins.
Key takeaways
Enjoying a store and recommending it can tell different stories. DEALZ ranked third for enjoyment (72%) but eleventh for recommendation (NPS 38). BIEDRONKA was last for enjoyment (49%) yet eighth for recommendation (NPS 42). The two scores measure different things.
People need a reason they can pass on. At DEALZ, finding something unusual can be part of the appeal. For a supermarket, the reason may be as simple as fresh bread and everything needed for the weekly shop. Either promise has to hold up on the next visit.
One weak moment can undermine a strong promise. ROSSMANN led both enjoyment (91%) and recommendation (NPS 72). Stock, clear prices, helpful staff and the way a retailer fixes problems all matter when shoppers decide whether to recommend it.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Explore more insights from Retail Champion
Read the full 2026 report and discover how retail, consumer goods and FMCG professionals can become part of the Club of 369.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Explore more insights from Retail Champion
Read the full 2026 report and discover how retail, consumer goods and FMCG professionals can become part of the Club of 369.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Explore more insights from Retail Champion
Read the full 2026 report and discover how retail, consumer goods and FMCG professionals can become part of the Club of 369.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Explore more insights from Retail Champion
Read the full 2026 report and discover how retail, consumer goods and FMCG professionals can become part of the Club of 369.