Not Ace, Not Tractor Supply: ACSI Ranked These Specialty Retailers Highest For Customer Satisfaction

When you are looking to purchase a product from a specialty retailer, you may have a favorite store that you trust. Perhaps that store has a great rewards program or always has your favorite item and brand in stock. Credibility and expertise among sales associates are also driving factors.

Many people assume that big box specialty retailers struggle to deliver in these areas as effectively as a smaller specialty retailer. However, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) 2026 Retail and Consumer Shipping Study shows that the smaller stores like Ace Hardware and Tractor Supply haven't been scoring as high as the big box stores in the hardware and home improvement category — although all the scores for specialty retailers in this category were tightly bunched. Home Depot, Lowe's, and Menards tied for the top spot on the list in the 2026 ACSI report, with Lowe's and Home Depot showing improvement from the 2025 study.

Among all specialty retailers, regardless of category, Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, and ODP (Office Depot, OfficeMax) posted the highest scores in the 2026 study. In the 2025 study, Home Depot and Lowe's had lagged behind companies including Ulta Beauty, Pet Supplies Plus, Ace Hardware, and Menards. But the two big box home improvement retailers jumped to the top of the list in 2026, which contains ratings for 28 different specialty retailers. ACSI defines specialty retailers as those that have a particular category of products and a primary area of expertise, such as pet supplies, automotive parts, home improvement products, clothing, or electronics.

Lowe's made the biggest gain in the home improvement category in the 2026 ACSI study, jumping 2 points from its 2025 score to a 2026 score of 81. According to the study, Lowe's gains were related to an improved quality of service from staff, some of which may have been the result of better training of new sales associates. Customers may also appreciate the value found with Lowe's products, including its price-matching guarantee.

Fewer homeowners shopped at Home Depot in 2025, with reduced customer transactions listed in the company's earnings report, but it didn't affect customer satisfaction. Home Depot had a 1-point improvement from 2025 to 2026 in the ACSI studies for a new score of 81. Home Depot strengthened its 2026 score primarily with efficiency improvements for in-store product pickups by relying on dedicated staff and better technology to improve the customer experience. Menard's saw a 2-point drop from 2025 to 2026, resulting in a new score of 81. ACSI didn't give a specific reason for Menard's satisfaction score reduction.

Ace Hardware's shopping secrets for savvy customers didn't help it in the 2026 ratings. Ace Hardware saw a significant score drop from 2025 to 2026 in the study, falling 3 points from 83 to 80. In discussing the details of the specialty retailer category scores, the study's authors did not give a specific reason for Ace Hardware's drop in score. Tractor Supply did not have a rating in the 2025 ACSI study, debuting in 2026 with a score of 80.

ACSI claims to be the only organization that measures customer satisfaction across the United States and in multiple industries. In developing its 2026 study, ACSI received more than 31,000 surveys from customers. It contacted survey participants via email throughout 2025, and each participant was chosen at random. Participants were asked to answer questions about their satisfaction when shopping at dozens of retailers. 

In addition to measuring customer satisfaction, ACSI believes the data collected in its study provides indicators of consumer spending and confidence, customer satisfaction with various retailer categories, and projected financial performance among retail companies. The 2026 study showed that the specialty retailers had a combined category score of 80, which was higher than the other major categories, such as online retailers and supermarkets. Specialty retailers on the whole saw improvements in their scores from 2025 to 2026 in areas of website and mobile app quality and reliability, order pickup efficiency, and call center satisfaction. Scores are given on a scale of 0 to 100.

Across the entire 2026 ACSI study, only 9 of the 28 specialty retailers listed achieved a score of 80 or better (32.1%). All five specialty retailers in the home improvement category were at 80 or higher. In the 2025 study, 11 of the 26 specialty retailers included had an 80 or better score (42.3%).