F&B, tourism sectors score high in customer loyalty

A total of 2,500 customers from both sectors were surveyed.

The food and beverage (F&B) sector scored 73.6 points on a 0 to 100 scale, whilst the tourism sector logged 76.1 points, according to the Q3 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) results released by the Institute of Service Excellence at Singapore Management University.

Results from the F&B sector came from companies from the restaurants, fast food, and café and coffee houses sub-sectors, whilst the results from the tourism sector were derived from survey responses for tourist attractions.

Customer loyalty levels in the restaurants sub-sector varied based on whether a customer dined in, had take out, or had their food delivered. “Loyalty was defined as the customers’ likelihood to patronise the establishment again as well as their tolerance to changes in prices; a customer loyalty score was derived based on responses to these two variables,” the ISE said.

Those who dined in recorded an average loyalty score of 68.9 points, notably lesser than those who either had take-out or food delivery, which scored 73.1 and 73.8 points, respectively. Similar observations were noted in fast food and café and coffee houses sub-sectors.

Concurrently, the ongoing pandemic has also caused a change in customers’ dining behaviour, as shown by the CSISG results, with 62% of restaurant-goers citing that they were opting to have take-out or food delivery now.

As for the tourism sector, only local visitors were interviewed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in place.

The data gathered from the attractions sub-sector, suggested that businesses can most likely drive customer loyalty by ensuring customers’ satisfaction on “food and beverage options, range of activities and exhibits, entertainment or educational value of the attraction, friendliness and courtesy of the staff, as well as ease of getting to the attraction.

Meanwhile, the study also dissected the demand for local staycations over the next 12 months. “Compared to 2019, 63% indicated they would maintain or increase the frequency of staycations and 71% indicated they would spend the same or more, in contrast to 37% of respondents that indicated they would decrease or not partake in staycations and 29% that indicated they would decrease or not spend anything at all on staycations,” the study concluded.

“In particular, 27.1% were concerned about the efficacy of disinfecting the hotel room, 25.8% were concerned with the cost of the stay, and 16.2% were concerned about hotels being used as quarantine facilities,” the study revealed.

The CSISG 2020 Q3 study was done from July through September 2020, with 2,500 local consumers polled for both sectors aforementioned.