John Lewis has overtaken M&S to become the UK’s highest-ranked retailer in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), released this week.

The department store secured a score of 86.7 out of 100 in the bi-annual survey, climbing back to the top of the retail sector after M&S snatched the top spot earlier this year.

The result also places John Lewis third overall across all industries measured in the index. M&S, meanwhile, posted strong scores for both its clothing and food divisions – 85.4 and 85.6, respectively – placing them fifth and sixth overall.

However, by contrast, the results were more mixed for the wider John Lewis Partnership, with upmarket grocery arm Waitrose slipping significantly to 26th in the rankings. It scored 82.4, down from fourth place and a score of 84.4 just a year ago.

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Despite this decline, the Partnership maintained a spot within the top ten businesses for customer satisfaction overall.

Institute of Customer Service CEO Jo Causon said the rankings reflected a link between customer experience and business performance.

“The John Lewis turnaround is noteworthy, as an increase in customer satisfaction has coincided with a rise in profits, something we also saw with M&S,” she added.

“Successful retailers understand a consistent focus on the customer drives brand loyalty, trust and sustainable growth — and as our research shows, enables organisations to weather difficult events, such as cyberattacks.”

The UKCSI is compiled from feedback from around 60,000 consumers and measures brands across multiple factors, including customer experience, complaint handling and ethical behaviour.