Customer satisfaction with retail sector improves significantly in Q1

Retailers are striving to lure more shoppers.

Retailers are dramatically improving their customer service in a bid to draw more shoppers and buck the steady decline in sales. And their efforts to improve customer service appears to be bearing fruit—the latest Customer Satisfaction Index

of Singapore (CSISG) showed a significant increase in customer satisfaction with the retail sector.

The retail sector scored 71.7 points in the first quarter, up 2.4% year-on-year. In particular, statistically significant upticks in scores were seen in the jewellery, fashion apparels and department stores sub-sectors.

“In this difficult economic climate, we are seeing service competitiveness being leveraged as a differentiator. Retailers are paying more attention to store ambience, exploring digital innovations, and refreshing their brand strategies to better align with changing consumer profiles,” said Neeta Lachmandas, executive director of the Institute of Service Excellence (ISES), which compiles the survey.

The survey also gauged customer satisfaction with e-commerce and found that the sub-sector clinched a score of 71.1 points.

The top three drivers that had the most impact on increasing satisfaction scores were timeliness of product delivery, fair returns and exchange policies as well as ease of checking out items and payment on site, pointing to the fact that reliability and convenience are top priorities for customers shopping on e-commerce sites.