Woolworths has cemented its reputation for customer advocacy, claiming three of the top five spots in KLA and YouGov’s Top 10 Most Recommended Brands in South Africa for 2026.
Based on a year’s worth of data from YouGov BrandIndex, the annual ranking measures the likelihood of current customers recommending a brand to friends or colleagues – a key indicator of trust and brand advocacy.
Woolworths Food tops the list with a recommendation score of 88.1%, ahead of Samsung (86.2%) and Woolworths Clothing (86.0%). Woolworths Home also features in fifth place, reinforcing the retailer’s dominance across multiple categories.
Rounding out the top 10 are Markham, FNB, Cape Union Mart, Checkers, Investec and Clicks.
Recommendation as a brand metric
Markham, Investec and Clicks are new entrants this year, while Samsung, Woolworths Home and FNB retained their positions from 2025. Woolworths Clothing, Cape Union Mart and Checkers also remained in the top 10, each climbing one place, highlighting consistently strong customer experiences.
“These are the brands South Africans are willing to put their own names behind,” says Rakhee Naik, managing consultant: insights at KLA. “Recommendation is one of the few brand metrics that can’t simply be bought. While advertising helps build awareness, advocacy is earned through consistently delivering experiences worth talking about.”
The research also identifies South Africa’s Most Improved Brands, recognising the biggest year-on-year gains in recommendation scores. Investec, Elegant Fuel and Jet Cellular emerged as the leading improvers, reflecting stronger customer trust and brand affinity.
While these brands are not publicly ranked, detailed performance data is available to KLA clients.
