Gain insights into consumer preferences for Costco, Target, and Walmart via Google Ratings & Reviews Data.
So much data is available on the World Wide Web that you can easily pick the kind of information you want and, for the sake of all stakeholders involved, use it to reinforce your own gut feeling and build your arsenal to win in the battle of the brands.
But there’s a crater the size of Vredefort in this line of thinking. Like a walnut, your hardened assumptions form the outer layer (made up of questionable data), whereas the mushy marrow inside is pretty much the status quo.
Customer reviews data has the potential to wake you up from this slumber and give you insights that you can’t possibly ignore.
This has been repeated ad nauseam, but let’s do it again today (because it’s important): customers of the 21st century are much more likely to share their experiences on popular review platforms like Yelp, Trustpilot, G2, and even Google.
What’s even more worrying is that people are much more likely to leave lackluster ratings and post scandalous reviews than they are to post something good.
All the more reason for you to be even more careful.
But feedback is a gift. The way we see it, you have two options when it comes to reviewing data on the internet.
You can either formulate a credible hypothesis and test it out with web data or simply follow your gut to the bitter end.
We recommend you do the former.
Actionable Data Insights
Short on time? Get the key findings from our in-depth analysis of Costco, Target, and Walmart’s Google Ratings & Reviews data here:
- Monitor and Improve Customer Experience: Costco’s high ratings emphasize the importance of providing a positive shopping experience. Regularly monitor customer feedback and implement changes to enhance customer experience.
- Address Common Complaints: Costco’s negative feedback often mentions long wait times and parking issues. Identify and address recurring complaints to improve overall satisfaction.
- Utilize Sentiment Analysis Tools: Leverage sentiment analysis models to classify and understand customer feedback. This helps in identifying areas of improvement and maintaining positive customer sentiment.
- Challenge Assumptions with Data: Traditional beliefs about market priorities may not hold true. Use detailed ratings and reviews data to validate or challenge assumptions about consumer preferences.
- Diversify Data Sources: Combine quantitative data from platforms like Google with qualitative insights from forums like Reddit to gain a comprehensive understanding of consumer opinions and behaviors.
Gathering Ratings & Reviews Data for Sentiment Analysis
To delve into the sentiment surrounding Walmart, Target, and Costco among New York consumers, we conducted a sentiment analysis of Google reviews. Data was collected between 2008-06-12 and 2024-06-12, encompassing 400k+ reviews of all retailers combined.
As web data extraction specialists, we’ve built a robust foundation in extracting valuable information from the web.
To complement our core expertise, we developed an in-house machine learning model specifically tailored for sentiment analysis within our niche area of product reviews.
Our model was trained on a carefully curated dataset of 2-3 million reviews sourced from diverse online platforms.
We intentionally limited the model’s size to prioritize efficiency and allocate our primary resources to delivering exceptional web data extraction services to our clients.
Leveraging a GRU architecture and a fixed context length of 512 tokens, our model effectively classifies sentiments as positive, negative, or neutral.
While not necessarily cutting-edge, this solution delivers accurate results and meets the specific demands of our review analysis projects.
Let’s Start with a Generalization
The Japanese compete on quality, the Americans compete on speed, and the Indians compete on price.
Popular assumption
Data analysis often commences with a generalized hypothesis. One such commonly held belief is that Japan prioritizes quality, the United States emphasizes speed, and India focuses on price.
Historically, these national business strategies have been evident. Japan’s emphasis on quality is deeply rooted in its culture and is exemplified by manufacturing methodologies like Lean.
Conversely, the United States’ fast-paced market has fostered a culture of innovation and speed, as seen in tech giants like Amazon and Google.
India, with its vast talent pool, has carved a niche in cost-effective solutions, particularly in the IT sector, where companies like TCS and Infosys have thrived.
However, the business landscape is dynamic. To ascertain if these historical trends persist, we will analyze Google ratings and reviews for Walmart, Costco, and Target.
By examining consumer sentiment, we aim to determine if American consumers primarily value price, quality, or overall shopping experience. This analysis will provide insights into the evolving competitive dynamics within the United States, primarily in New York State.
Qualitative Data Analysis of Reddit Reviews Data
To gain authentic and unfiltered consumer perspectives on Walmart, Target, and Costco, we turned to Reddit.
The recent Google algorithm update has significantly impacted the online landscape, with platforms like Urban Dictionary and Oprah Daily experiencing decreased traffic.
Conversely, discussion forums such as Reddit and Quora have seen a surge in popularity.
Reddit, in particular, provides a rich repository of raw, unfiltered opinions from a diverse range of consumers. By analyzing Reddit discussions, we sought to understand the average consumer’s perception of these retail giants. The following findings are based on a randomized Reddit qualitative data extraction:
Here’s a concise summary of the consumer perception for each retail brand based on the reviews:
Quantitative Reviews and Ratings Data Analysis of Costco, Target, and Walmart
Now, we will perform a quantitative data analysis of the ratings and review data we collected to see if Americans prefer price (Costco), quality (Target) or options (Walmart).
This will help us determine if Americans are still focused on speed-to-market or are there nuances? From the outset, it looks like Walmart has the upper hand, but let’s dig deeper.
1. Comparing the ratings between Costco, Target, and Walmart
The majority of Costco’s reviews are highly positive, with 60.2% of users giving a perfect 5-star rating. A significant portion of customers (21%) gave 4 stars, indicating general satisfaction. Negative reviews (1 and 2 stars) make up about 11%, suggesting relatively fewer negative experiences.
Target also has a majority of positive reviews, with 53.7% of users giving a 5-star rating. The 4-star reviews are consistent with Costco at 21%. There is a slightly higher percentage of 3-star reviews compared to Costco. Negative reviews (1 and 2 stars) account for 16%, higher than Costco, indicating more customers had less satisfactory experiences.
Walmart’s reviews show a more diverse distribution compared to Costco and Target. While 42.2% of users rated their experience as 5 stars, a significant portion (15.8%) gave a 1-star rating, indicating a substantial number of dissatisfied customers. The percentage of 2-star reviews is also higher compared to the other two retailers.
Comparative analysis of ratings between Costco, Target, and Walmart
- Overall Positive Reviews (4 and 5 stars): Costco leads with 81.2%, followed by Target at 74.7%, and Walmart at 63.5%.
- Neutral Reviews (3 stars): Walmart has the highest percentage of neutral reviews at 13.9%, indicating more mixed experiences.
- Negative Reviews (1 and 2 stars): Walmart has the highest proportion of negative reviews at 22.6%, followed by Target at 16.4%, and Costco at 11.8%.
Looking at the ratings alone, we see that Costco appears to excel in overall satisfaction, Target maintains a competitive stance with substantial positive feedback, and Walmart has a more divided customer base, highlighting areas for potential improvement.
2. Comparing the consumer sentiment between Costco, Target, and Walmart
Costco has a highly positive sentiment among its reviewers, with 71.6% of the reviews being positive. Neutral sentiment accounts for 13%, while negative sentiment is relatively low at 15.4%.
This indicates that the majority of customers have favorable experiences with Costco.
Target has a strong positive sentiment as well, with 68.1% of the reviews being positive. Neutral sentiment is 10.6%, and negative sentiment is higher at 21.2% compared to Costco.
This suggests that while many customers have positive experiences at Target, there is a notable portion of negative feedback.
Walmart has the lowest percentage of positive sentiment among the three retailers, with 58.4% of the reviews being positive.
Neutral sentiment stands at 14.8%, while negative sentiment is the highest at 26.9%. This indicates a more polarizing customer experience, with a significant number of negative reviews.
Comparative analysis of consumer sentiment between Costco, Target, and Walmart
- Positive Sentiment: Costco leads with the highest positive sentiment (71.6%), followed by Target (68.1%), and Walmart (58.4%).
- Neutral Sentiment: Walmart has the highest neutral sentiment (14.8%), followed by Costco (13%) and Target (10.6%).
- Negative Sentiment: Walmart has the highest negative sentiment (26.9%), followed by Target (21.2%), and Costco (15.4%).
Costco emerges as the leader in both positive sentiment and overall ratings, indicating high customer satisfaction. Target follows with strong positive sentiment but higher negative feedback compared to Costco.
Walmart has the most diverse sentiment distribution, with a significant portion of negative reviews, highlighting areas for improvement.
3. Why is Costco perceived to be better?
Costco enjoys higher approval ratings compared to Walmart and Target primarily due to its strong value proposition and overall positive shopping experience. Customers frequently mention “good,” “love,” and “price,” indicating a favorable impression and satisfaction with the value for money.
Positive experiences with “staff” and “product” quality further enhance Costco’s appeal.
Additionally, words like “clean” and “bulk” show that customers appreciate the store’s cleanliness and the ability to purchase items in bulk, contributing to a comprehensive sense of satisfaction.
However, there are notable areas for improvement that appear in the negative sentiment word cloud. Words like “line,” “parking,” and “crowded” highlight common complaints about long wait times, parking difficulties, and crowded stores.
While “customer service” appears in both positive and negative contexts, it suggests inconsistent experiences. Addressing these issues could help Costco further enhance its customer satisfaction and maintain its lead in approval ratings.
Use Data to Challenge Convention
Our analysis began with the premise that customer feedback is invaluable for understanding market dynamics and consumer preferences. We explored the traditional belief that different cultures prioritize different aspects of business: quality in Japan, speed in the US, and price in India.
However, our detailed sentiment analysis and reviews ratings for Costco, Target, and Walmart challenge this generalized hypothesis.
While the hypothesis suggested that Americans prioritize speed, the data reveals a different story: price and overall shopping experience, as evidenced by Costco’s strong performance, are paramount. It is important to note that this data only accounted for New York State. Comparing this data with insights from other states would be an interesting and valuable project in its own right.
Furthermore, the data suggests that Costco, Target, and Walmart each cater to distinct customer bases, with Walmart boasting the largest customer count. A case study examining the overlap between these customer bases could open a new avenue for research and provide valuable insights.
Nevertheless, this finding challenges the traditional notion and underscores the importance of leveraging customer feedback to gain accurate market insights.
Our analysis demonstrates that feedback, when carefully analyzed, can overturn conventional wisdom and provide a more accurate understanding of consumer priorities.
For businesses, this highlights the critical importance of active listening and analyzing customer reviews to stay competitive and responsive to evolving market dynamics.
Costco’s success story exemplifies how prioritizing value and customer experience can lead to high consumer satisfaction and loyalty, providing a blueprint for other retailers to follow.
