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Measuring the controllable variables in the customer experience in convenience stores at filling stations / N. Africa

Convenience stores are playing a pivotal role in the contribution to profitability in the
fuels retail environment. In order to increase market share that will lead to increased
profits it is imperative to provide excellent customer service. Customer experience has
been identified as the key construct in the modern retail environment to be addressed, in
order to ensure a satisfied customer. It has been noted that customer experience is not
measured in the convenience stores, but only at the pump stations and the carwash
service points of Sasol garages. Sasol Oil has a fuels retail market share of 9% and it
will be beneficial for the company to explore all avenues to increase market share since
convenience stores contribute 25% towards the total profit of the company.
A literature review was conducted to identify the important controllable elements of the
total customer experience and the measuring instruments that can be used to measure
these elements, which formed the basis of the empirical study. The measuring
instruments discussed in the literature are Servqual, Kano and customised models. One
of the dimensions of the total customer experience is service quality and a customised
model was chosen as the measuring instrument of choice. Questionnaires were
developed, based on the controllable elements of customer experience, and distributed
via email and handouts. In total, 260 questionnaires were distributed with a response of
47.7%. Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis were employed to analyse
the data. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach alpha. Cronbach
alpha values above the minimum requirements and a cumulative variance of only 47%
was achieved. Conclusions were drawn from the empirical study and recommendations
were made in the final chapter. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4580
Date January 2010
CreatorsAfrica, Norman
PublisherNorth-West University
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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