1. Retail: Theory and Practice Retail Service (customer service) 1

2. Learning objectives: At the end of this lecture students will be able to: Understand the objectives of customer service in retailing Recognise the potential of customer service Identify a range of customer needs for service in the retail environment Explain how customers perceive the quality of retail services Consider service strategies appropriate to a range of retail types 2

3. Service: what does it mean?: Source: McGoldrick

4. Service: what does it mean?: 4

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7. What does the customer expect?(Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry) Matching customer expectations with their actual experience of service leads to customer satisfaction Not necessarily important to try to achieve increasingly high levels of service but quality of service received should match expectation of the customer Avoid GAPS between customer’s service expectation and experience! Implies an awareness of customer needs and clear segmentation / targeting ) (1985 & 1990-in Varley and Rafiq, p256) 7

8. Findings: It’s not necessarily important to strive to achieve high levels of service But You need to ensure that the quality of service received meets the customer’s expectations i.e. No gaps between expectation and experience 8

9. The SERVQUAL Gap model for retailing (Parasuraman et al. (1985 & 1990) Provides a research model for retailers Names 5 major dimensions of service (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) (McGoldrick, p. 531) Then Retailer can ask the customer to complete a questionnaire that measures the differences (using a scale method) between the customer’s expectation and experience of service quality ( Varley and Rafiq, p256)

10. 4 potential barriers to achieving a match The knowledge gap (difference between the service the customer expects and the service that the retailer THINKS the customer expects The standards gap (difference between the service quality expected and the operational standards achieved in the organisation) The delivery gap (when the employee fails to deliver the required standard of service The communications gap (difference between the service stated by the retailer and that actually achieved) 10

11. SERVQUAL limitations The SERVQUAL scale items have been tested and used in mainly ‘pure’ service settings such as banking & credit card services so doesn’t fully reflect the retailer’s product-service mix Dabhlokar et al. modified the scale making it more suited to retail use producing a 28-item Retail service Quality (RSQ) scale. (McGoldrick, p. 531) 11

12. Retail Service Quality (RSQ) scale 12 McGoldrick, p. 532

13. Factors to consider Need for service differentiation based on long term strategy Marketing orientation – belief in the value of customer retention Service-oriented cultures Empowerment of employees Quality assurance Staff training and development 13

14. Discussion group topic Value clothing retailers Identify customer experiences and customer expectations in value clothing retailers such as Primark, New Look, Pilot, Matalan etc. Identify potential barriers to achieving a match between customer’s experiences and expectations. Relate your answer to relevant theory. 14