Hoorayforproblems

Problem, Problem, Who’s got a problem? We’ve got the problem.


The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006, conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, surveyed approximately 1200 U.S. shoppers in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005. Those surveyed were asked to discuss their most recent shopping experience. Half said they had at least one problem. On average, survey respondents reported experiencing three problems on the shopping trip, during which they spent an average of $163.

Parking was a major source of aggravation for shoppers with 40% of those surveyed reporting dissatisfaction in the parking lot. This is not good news for retailers as parking problems set the stage for customers to "arrive angry," which can make them more likely to have a troubled shopping experience. Retailers must realize the shopping experience is total and inclusive, from the time the shopper decides to leave their front door until they return home

In addition to parking problems, shoppers surveyed complained that it took a long time for them to be waited on (24%) or to pay (33%). Shoppers who had to wait for service complained about it to 2.1 other people, on average, and those who had to wait a long time to pay told an average of 1.4 people. Customers' time has become an important part of the retail value equation, along with price, merchandising and other traditional components of the industry.. Time is a rare and precious thing. Yet because the Internet allows shoppers to buy around the clock, there is more pressure on retailers to respect their customers' time.

Meanwhile, retailers continue to focus on merchandise, jamming stores with inventory that overwhelms customers and cuts into the time they have to shop. According to the survey, shoppers are likely to tell 2.5 people, on average, about their inability to find an item because the store was cluttered with merchandise. In the end, retailers will wind up reducing the price on merchandise to make up for the negative experience, eroding their profit margins.

The survey shows some slight differences in attitudes among shoppers who were reporting their experiences at a mass merchant versus a specialty store. People who are in a specialty store are more in the pleasure-seeking experience, while people going to a mass merchant are on a mission.

Retailers historically have paid a great deal of attention to how to satisfy the customer, but have not been too interested in finding out what makes them dissatisfied. Historically it has focused more on product and experience as a way to create satisfaction.
And despite the value in learning about consumer gripes, retailers have resisted asking their customers what they do wrong for fear of stirring up negative thoughts. Retailers need to find ways to get customers to share complaints with management, not friends and family. One way is for retailers to ask customers to check a box on their credit card slip indicating they had a problem at the store. Retailers could then attempt to follow up, or give the customer a phone number or web address to make their complaints directly. If nothing else, it would give the customer a chance to blow off steam.. Retailers that are responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those that don't try to be as friendly as possible.

And now to the moral of the story: Why don't shoppers confront the retailer directly? Respondents indicated they rarely discussed their concerns with store personnel or management. The prevailing psychology was that most people presumed it would happen repeatedly (46% of those who had a problem expect they would definitely or probably experience the same problem in the future), was unavoidable, and resigned themselves to poor service. When any service has become a pleasant surprise instead of the expected, the time is ripe for a marketer to woo customers with (if not exceptional) then solid good sincere service. How much more effort would it take to do so? And by what America is telling us, the reward would be well worth it.