Are you being served?

24 January 2008

Good service is the way to customers’ hearts and shoppers seem willing to pay extra for it, according to this year’s Which? retailers’ survey.

Despite high prices, customers voted Waitrose their favourite shop, knocking sister company John Lewis into second place. The supermarket received an impressive customer service score with 75% rating the store excellent or very good. (See overleaf for a full breakdown of the top and bottom 10 retailers’ scores).

Although pricey, local independent stores did exceptionally well, scoring highly for quality service from friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Bucking the trend, discount stores Aldi and Lidl made it into the top ten showing that if the price is right, customers are sometimes willing to accept the no-frills approach.

JD Sports, at the bottom of the league, scored an abysmal 6 per cent for service. ‘The shops are a jumbled-up mess’, one customer said. Another complained that ‘staff seem more interested in carrying on their own conversations than looking after a customer’.

Big names such as JJB Sports, Woolworths and Somerfield, which scored poorly last year, still linger at the bottom of the table. As do the shops in the DSG International group – Currys.digital, Currys and PC World.

Other notable top shops and high-street flops in various categories include:

• Groceries: Marks and Spencer (M&S) achieved second place in the groceries category after Waitrose. None of the big four supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – made it into the top five of this group.
• Clothes, shoes and accessories: John Lewis was rated top in this category, while Topshop and Topman were bottom.
• Entertainment: Woolworths came bottom of this group with the lowest marks for customer service and shopping experience. ‘If you have a query it is almost impossible to find a member of staff in Woolworths to help’, said one customer.

Peter Vicary-Smith, Chief Executive, Which?, says:

“It’s not rocket science – customers like retailers that treat them well. The best stores realise that the most important thing they can provide is helpful, well-informed staff.

“On the other hand, nothing alienates customers more than unfriendly, ignorant shop assistants or, even worse, not being able to find a member of staff when you need one. Unfortunately, several retailers at the bottom of our table haven’t learned their lesson from last year’s survey.”

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