Social class in retail is not determined by category, price range, or brand reputation, according to a study of the social media habits of 80 leading retail brands conducted by Engagement Labs. Assessing them for engagement, impact, and responsiveness on a 100-point “evalue” scale–using a patented algorithm and a database of 50,000 brand accounts to weight retailers on the three KPIs–the social analytics company determined that the two most skillful social marketers in the category were Champ Sports (96) and Game Stop (95). Tying for third with identical scores of 89 were Tiffany, Hot Topic, and Macy’s.
A similarly diverse group exhibited the least amount of social savvy, though 7-Eleven distinguished itself as the only store scoring in the teens (19). Along with the convenience-store chain in the ranking’s basement were Guess (23), AutoZone (33), and Coach (35).
Other highlights from the rankings, which were determined by activity tracked during the week of December 1:
- Big box retailers congregated safely in the middle tier, led by Costco with an “evalue” of 68. Next came Sam’s Club (65), Sears (65), Kmart (59), Walmart (50), and Target (44).
- Home improvement companies shined, settling in the middle to upper tiers of the ranking. Home Depot (81), Ace Hardware (75), Sherwin-Williams (62), and Lowe’s (57), all acquitted themselves well socially.
- Poor performers tended to show specific deficiencies. Levi’s (42), Gap (42), and Coach offered little or no seasonally specific content, and Coach and Guess’s customer service numbers indexed particularly low.
