Woolworths Food has claimed the top spot in South Africa's most recommended brands ranking, with Samsung and Woolworths Clothing rounding out the top three.
Image: Ai-Generated
Woolworths Food has been named South Africa's most recommended brand for 2026, leading a list dominated by retailers and financial services brands as customer trust and advocacy continue to shape purchasing decisions.
The second annual Top 10 Most Recommended Brands ranking, compiled by consumer insights agency KLA in partnership with YouGov, found that Woolworths Food achieved a recommendation score of 88.1%, ahead of Samsung on 86.2% and Woolworths Clothing on 86.0%.
The rankings are based on data collected over a year through YouGov's BrandIndex platform, measuring how likely current customers are to recommend a brand to friends, family or colleagues.
Woolworths strengthened its position by securing three of the top five places, with Woolworths Home also ranking fifth with a recommendation score of 82.7%.
Markham claimed fourth place with 83.1%, while FNB, Cape Union Mart, Checkers, Investec and Clicks completed the top 10.
Rakhee Naik, managing consultant for insights at KLA, said customer recommendations remain one of the strongest indicators of brand strength because they reflect genuine consumer experiences rather than marketing spend.
"These are the brands South Africans are willing to put their own names behind. Recommendation is one of the few brand metrics that cannot simply be bought. While advertising supports in building awareness, advocacy is earned through consistently delivering experiences worth talking about."
The study found several brands maintained strong momentum from last year's rankings. Samsung, Woolworths Home and FNB all retained their positions in second, fifth and sixth place respectively, while Woolworths Clothing, Cape Union Mart and Checkers remained in the top 10 after each moving up one place.
The report said the consistency demonstrated by these brands reflected sustained investment in customer experience and service delivery.
New research shows South Africans are most likely to recommend Woolworths Food, highlighting the growing importance of customer advocacy and trust.
Image: Supplied.
Three companies also entered the rankings for the first time this year, with Markham, Investec and Clicks making their debut in the country's top 10 most recommended brands.
In addition to the overall rankings, the study identified the country's most improved brands based on year on year gains in recommendation scores.
Investec, Elegant Fuel and Jet Cellular were recognised as the leading improvers, reflecting significant progress in strengthening customer trust, improving service delivery and building stronger brand loyalty.
While KLA did not publicly rank the most improved brands, the agency said participating clients receive access to their detailed performance data and customer insights.
The latest findings highlight the growing importance of customer advocacy in an increasingly competitive consumer market, where positive recommendations are becoming as valuable as traditional advertising in influencing purchasing decisions.
South Africa's Top 10 Most Recommended Brands for 2026
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