Abstract – “I´ve been using the same tailor for years - He really suits me; A survey of the correlation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty at Elgiganten Erikslund” Date: 2015.05.29 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS Institution: School of Business, Society and Enginering, Mälardalen University Authors: Amanda Johansson Jacob Narvell Sophie Grönlund 920725 900109 871116 Title: “I´ve been using the same tailor for years - He really suits me; A sample survey of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty at Elgiganten Erikslund” Tutor: Angelina Sundström Keywords: Service-Profit Chain, Customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty, Retail, RSQS, Kundtillfredsställelse, Kundlojalitet Research question: What aspects of customer satisfaction affect customer loyalty? How are these aspects correlated? Purpose: The purpose of this study was to contribute to the growing body of the theoretical and empirical knowledge on the relationships among customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Method: A quantitative research design utilizing a survey method was employed to assess aspects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Empirical data consisted of 107 surveys completed on-site. Spearmans rank correlation was used to analyze correlates between aspects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Conclusion: Findings demonstrate a weak correlation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Furthermore, all aspects of customer satisfaction shared a similar, weak correlation to customer loyalty.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe analizuojama klientų aptarnavimo kokybė „Sarma by Douglas“ parduotuvės įsikūrusios Šiaulių mieste pavyzdžiu. Teorinėje darbo dalyje, analizuojant Lietuvos bei užsienio autorių mokslinę literatūrą, aptariama aptarnavimo kokybės samprata, pateikiami įvairūs užsienio autorių kokybės apibrėžimai, pateikiami skirtingi požiūriai į kokybę. Taip pat teoriniu kontekstu detaliau analizuojama klientų aptarnavimo kokybė. Šioje dalyje pateikiami trys kokybės vertinimo modeliai: SERVQUAL, SERVPERF bei mažmeninės paslaugų kokybės matavimo modelis RSQS (Retail Service Quality Scale). Šis modelis pasirinktas empiriniam tyrimui, kadangi „Sarma by Douglas“ yra mažmeninės prekybos parduotuvė. Tyrimo tikslas – atlikti klientų aptarnavimo kokybės vertinimą „Sarma by Douglas“ pavyzdžiu. Tyrimo imtis. Apklausoje dalyvavo 128 respondentai, apsilankę kosmetikos ir parfumerijos prekių parduotuvėje „Sarma by Douglas“ įsikūrusioje prekybos centre „Saulės miestas“. Tyrimo laikas. Anoniminė anketinė apklausa „Sarma by Douglas“ parduotuvėje (prekybos centre „Saulės miestas“) atlikta nuo 2014 m. kovo 17d. iki balandžio 4d. Tyrimui pasirinktas anketinės apklausos (raštu) metodas. Tyrimo rezultatai ir išvados. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad klientai kaip svarbiausią savybę reikalingą konsultantui įvardija aistrą darbui. Dauguma apklaustųjų kaip svarbiausius konsultanto įgūdžius įvardija profesinius gebėjimus. Tokius kaip: gebėjimą atsakyti į kliento klausimus bei išmanymą apie... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Bachelor Thesis analyzes the quality of customer service by the example of „Sarma by Douglas“ stores located in the city of Šiauliai. Theoretical part of the work analyzes scientific literature of Lithuanian and foreign authors, discusses the concept of service quality, presents various definitions of quality by a number of foreign authors and different approaches to quality. In this part of the work the quality of customer service is analyzed in a more detailed way. In the theoretical part of the thesis three models of quality evaluation are introduced: SERVQUAL, SERVPERF and RSQS (Retail Service Quality Scale). This model was chosen for the empirical part of the thesis, because „Sarma by Douglas“ is a retail store. Aim of the study – to perform the evaluation of the quality of customer service by the example of „Sarma by Douglas“ . Sample of study. The survey involved 128 respondents, that have visited cosmetics and perfume store „Sarma by Douglas“ located in shopping center „Saulės miestas“. Time of study. Anonymous questionnaire in „Sarma by Douglas“ store (shopping center „Saulės miestas“) performed from 17 March, 2014 to 4 April, 2014. For this study questionnaire (in writing) method was selected. Results and conclusions of the study. The study shows, that customers identify passion for work as the most important feature of the sales person. The majority of respondents identify professional skills, such as the ability to respond to customer questions and knowledge... [to full text]

During the past few decades service quality has become a major area of attention topractitioners, managers and researchers. It has strong impact on business performance,lower costs, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability. This study aimedat analysis of retail service quality dimensions at clothing stores. The purpose of thisthesis was to find out how customers perceive the overall retail service quality in a sportstore. We chose Stadium in Helsinki, Finland as our case company.A survey of 300 shoppers in various Stadium sport stores in Helsinki has evaluatedretail service quality according to Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS) which composesof 5 dimensions namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problemsolvingand policy.The analysis part includes descriptive and statistics analysis. The descriptive analysiswas mainly presenting the statistical results in order to summarize data for the generalconclusions. The statistical analysis presented the differences in perception. The gapanalysis model examined the evidence about how consumers perceive service quality inretail stores and try to identify which dimensions and more specifically sub-dimensionsof RSQS they are satisfied or not-satisfied with.The finding result is that consumers are not satisfied with any dimension of servicequality. Consumer’s perception of service quality is poor in all dimensions, whichmeans that their perceptions are lower than expected level and what makes theirexperience in retail stores less enjoyable. The retail stores need to make improvementsin all dimensions in order to close gaps that could lead to increasing customersatisfaction.

Thesis( MTech( Marketing Management)) -- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / South Africa’s retail sector is competitive, and is characterized by a tough and uncertain business environment (Barlow, 2002:21). Amidst such challenges, Dotson and Patton (1992:15-28) found that retailers do not deliver desired services to their customers. To ensure competitive survival, retailers should differentiate themselves and continuously seek ways to maximize the value that they offer to their customers (Parikh, 2006:45-55). Service quality has been identified by Berry (1986:1-9) as the most basic strategy for retailers to create competitive advantages and to improve customers’ shopping experience. This study focuses on determining consumer perceptions of service quality of large clothing retailers within the Cape Metropolitan area, with the aim of identifying areas for improvement, as well as service quality determinants, which are most important to consumers.Secondary objectives include: to establish consumer expectations in terms of service quality determinants; to establish, which areas of service quality require improvement; to provide recommendations to improve service quality based on findings from the study, and to compare consumer perceptions of service quality amongst ad hoc shoppers against those who have accounts (credit facilities) at various retail stores. Quantitative research was conducted by means of face-to-face survey research, and includes results from 120 questionnaires. Interviews, which took the form of store intercepts, were conducted outside the entrance of selected retail stores, and took place during the last week of March. Stores were selected through random multi-stage sampling, while respondents were selected through a systematic sampling process. A descriptive research design was used. The content of the questionnaire was developed based on Dabolkar, Thorpe and Rentz’s (1996:3-16) RSQS structure, which captures the dimensions of service quality in retail stores. Data was analyzed by using SPSS software, and was presented numerically by making use of charts. The major findings of the study relates to levels of consumer satisfaction with the existing levels of service quality delivered by large clothing retailers within the Cape Metropolitan area for ad-hoc shoppers, as well as account holders. The findings of this study could bring about new strategies for the improvement of service quality among large clothing retailers in the Cape Metropolitan area. These strategies will contribute towards creating a competitive advantage through the use of service quality, and will ultimately contribute towards the long-term success of large clothing retailers within the Cape Metropolitan area.