Slipshod customer service is a bigger turn off than high prices for 74 per cent of shoppers, according to the 2010 National Customer Satisfaction survey from Retail Eyes.
Of those surveyed 74 per cent claimed they would be willing to pay more if it meant receiving better quality service, and 92 per cent said they had left a store without buying anything because the service was second-rate.
Retail Eyes CEO Tim Ogle says: “Customers are looking for value for money and that means more than just price; it means the whole experience.”
Only 3 per cent of customers believe high street retailers deliver good customer service and Ogle says there is potential for businesses to trump their competition. “There’s a real opportunity for retailers to stand out from the crowd and use customer experience as a point of difference to improve loyalty and repeat business.”
But managing director of Retail Vision John Ibbotson says there has been a trend towards self-service in most retail sectors over the past 50 years, and that this trend is continuing. “The customer gets cheaper prices and less personal service throughout and is relatively happy with that.”
The latest development in this trend is internet shopping. “There is no service in the sense of personal contact, but prices are cheaper. This trade-off is ok if you are buying a standard item and you know what you are getting but consumers are less willing to forego customer service for high value, complicated items such as electronics,” says Ibbotson. “In this situation the threat to high street retailers is that customers get advice in-store then buy online.”
Ibbotson points to the rise of discount supermarkets such as Aldi, Netto and Lidl as an example of the price versus service trade-off occurring in traditional offline retail, but stresses that there is a limit. “Low cost discounters have grown fast in the recession but still only account for 10 per cent of the market, in Germany.
Read more about customer service from CIM Annual National conference keynote speaker Don Peppers >>>
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