eBOOK: Exclusive shopper research from 2022 Bateleur survey
Currently, 76% of SA shoppers find retail service in store “indifferent”, and 94% believe there is room for improvement, reports Bateleur Brand Planning in their latest shopper research.
Customer service is at the centre of how retailers can win in the post-pandemic retail wars and attract more loyal customers. Currently, 76% of South African shoppers find retail service in store “indifferent”, and 94% believe there is room for improvement.
These are the findings of the Bateleur Brand Planning, 2022 Bateleur Vantage Point survey, published exclusively in partnership with Retailing Africa in our newly launched LIBRARY of retail reports – available free to download. In the ebook, How retailers can win the post-pandemic retail wars, the Bateleur findings point to the fact that the post-pandemic consumer is “more discerning” and “price conscious”, so product quality is even more important.
Gordon Hooper, founder and Managing Director of Bateleur Brand Planning, says that while South African retailers are known for their friendly staff, they get low scores for staff “knowledgeability and attentiveness” across the board. Retail fortunes would improve if customer service improved radically, and staff were trained as “Champion Salespeople”.
“In concept, this is obvious, but may be more difficult to achieve. Shoppers deem service levels in South Africa to be, at best, mediocre. It requires more than simply being friendly and helpful to satisfy shopper needs,” explains Hooper in the report. “Such superior frontline customer service is not the domain of on-the-floor staff alone. Such service cultures begin in the boardroom, with the overall organisational leader standing accountable for its creation and delivery.”
Hooper is adamant that “Champion Salespeople” will drive the future of retail success; and the opportunity exists for retailers that want to differentiate themselves and win the retail wars.
eBOOK: For more on the solutions and opportunities for retailers and brands in the 2022 Bateleur Vantage Point survey, read the eBook – free to download, published in partnership with Retailing Africa. |
WEBINAR: Bateleur Brand Planning MD, Gordon Hooper, discussed the shopper research with Retailing Africa Editor, Louise Burgers; and special guest, author and media consultant, Timothy Maurice Webster, in a free webinar about the 2022 Bateleur Vantage Point survey published in the Retailing Africa eBook, on Friday, 16 September, at 11am SAST. Watch here.
Main image credit: Pixabay.com.
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