Bunnings retains top spot, online retailers slide in trust rankings

Banks recorded the strongest gains in the latest results. Commonwealth Bank rose two places to enter the top five for the first time, placing fifth overall. Westpac climbed to 14th, NAB edged up to 19th, and ING rejoined the top 20 in 20th position. Bendigo Bank held steady in 15th. As a sector, banking jumped 10 places to become the eighth most trusted industry, its highest result in years.

Other top 20 brands saw minor shifts. Toyota fell one place to sixth, Big W slipped to seventh, and Australia Post dropped to tenth. NRMA moved out of the top 10 to 11th, while IGA, Nike and RACQ each fell one position to 16th, 17th and 18th respectively.

Outside the top tier, several brands recorded notable improvements, including GIO (up 27 places to 98th), Priceline Pharmacy (up 23 places to 75th) and Wesfarmers (up 21 places to 47th).   At the other end of the rankings, Woolworths and Coles remained Australia’s two most distrusted brands for a fourth consecutive quarter. However, distrust is rising fastest among major online platforms.    Temu became the most distrusted brand in Australia for the month of September and fell one place in the annual ranking to fifth most distrusted overall. Amazon and Shein also recorded further deterioration, slipping to 10th and 11th most distrusted respectively. Tesla, McDonald’s, Jetstar and Shell also moved further down the distrust rankings. Meanwhile, Qantas, Telstra, News Corp, Rio Tinto and BP each posted slight improvements.

Roy Morgan noted that distrust in online marketplaces, with Temu and Shein continuing to trend downward, while Amazon remains deeply distrusted despite stabilising since the pandemic. Only eBay sits in net trust territory among major marketplaces.   “As more Australians trial the platform (Temu), distrust is accelerating rather than stabilising, a sign real-world experience is feeding the decline. The biggest drivers of Temu’s distrust are poor quality, a lack of ethics, dishonesty, a lack of data privacy, and overall unreliability,” said Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO. “Poor quality and low standards are accelerating fastest, but every negative driver is reinforcing the overall surge in distrust.”