Are retail businesses actually gaining the full benefits of marketing incentives, such as loyalty schemes?

Both grocers and non-food retailers are raising the whole profile of customer service and are adopting a philosophy which puts the "Customer first". Are the issues such as the length of time in a checkout, staff dealing with queries and pricing the main issues in customer service?

Will new technology in the retail sector deliver productivity and service benefits?

The report provides readers with an assessment of current issues in customer service, from both sides of the shopper/retailer interface. It assesses, through exclusive consumer research, which retailers, both in grocery and non-food sectors, are rated best for providing service in the minds' of their shoppers. Issues in customer service viewed from the retailer's side of the interface are examined through exclusive trade research.

The overall theme of the report is that:

"Customer service is the last remaining differentiator to establish competitive advantage."

The value in using service to differentiate an offer is that it can be harder to negate by a competitor. Unlike price-matching, which negates a competitor's price advantage, service provision reflects a company's 'personality' and enhances a retailer's brand value.

It is also the case that the competitive environment in virtually all sectors of retail is such that there are fewer opportunities to use price as a differentiator these days as retailers have invested heavily in lower prices, on a broader base than standard Known Value Item (KVI), to sharpen up their competitive appeal. The popularity of loyalty cards as a means of offering something a bit extra to loyal shoppers seems to be declining among grocers, which leads to the presumption that service initiatives are an area where retailers will want to focus consumer attention as a point of difference.

The main focus of consumer research in the report is establishing winners and losers in consumers' minds as to which retailers provide the best and worst service. By focusing on those shoppers that use a retailer's stores, a comparative insight into how the shoppers of different retailers perceive those retailers to be performing has been obtained.