Canadian Retailers Improving Customer Service: Study

Canadian retailers are improving their customer experiences across the board, according to a study conducted by RetailTrack Mystery Shopping−a division of the Kanata-based Belding Group of Companies. 

Customer experience with Canada’s department store chains has improved over the past two years, the study reveals. The study shows an 11-point increase to 60%.

Canadian Tire Leads the Charge
Canadian Tire led the charge, taking over first place with a dramatic 26-point improvement, with the chain now at 73%. 

Shaun Belding, CEO of The Belding Group, said in a press release that the increased overall performance is a reflection of the effort and focus that all companies, globally, have been putting on customer experience over the past few years. 

“Delivering positive customer experiences is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ for organizations,” he said. “It is now need-to-have. Customer service, customer-focused policies and processes, are absolute table stakes for any company that wants to be successful in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace.”

Belding said the tremendous increase by Canadian Tire is very impressive, but not entirely surprising.

“It is a Canadian company that is facing intense pressure from very savvy and aggressive U.S. and Canadian retailers,” he explained. “Pricing, location, product mix are all kind of a blur for consumers as their options– both in traditional retail and online–have exploded. They know that to keep the hearts and minds of Canadian consumers, they have to provide a better experience than the competition. I suspect they have had a lot of internal focus on that over the last few years.”

Zellers, now Target stores, improved by 7 points to 51%, and Walmart remained virtually unchanged at 55%.

Customer experience will continue to be the dominant driver for business for the foreseeable future, the study shows.

“Consumer options aren’t going away any time soon,” Belding noted. “As the availability and pricing of products are creating more of a ‘commodity’ environment, the only area that is left for companies to stand out from the crowd is on the service and overall experience that they provide.”

Companies that don’t place a priority on providing memorable customer experiences are definitely at risk, Belding added.

“All the advertising and promotional gimmicks in the world won’t cut it if a company is getting highly visible negative comments on Twitter, Facebook and other social media,” Belding said. “People are talking about us every day–about the experiences they have with us–and that global conversation is the currency of customer loyalty.”

RetailTrack sent mystery shoppers into retailers in five major markets across Canada: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa. The mystery shoppers acted as normal customers, interacting with staff and observing and recording key aspects of the service experience.

The criteria used included:

• First impressions

• Availability attentiveness of staff

• Helpfulness, friendliness and knowledge of staff

• Convenience and store environment

• Overall impressions 

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