Exploring the UK high street retail experience: is the service encounter still valued?
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
ISSN: 0959-0552
Article publication date: 2 September 2014
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between service quality, the service encounter and the retail experience within a changing UK retail environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 40 customers and 20 staff of an established UK health and beauty retailer with a long-standing reputation for personal customer service. A qualitative analysis was applied using both a service quality and a customer value template.
Findings
Customers focused more on the utilitarian features of the service experience and less on “extraordinary” aspects, but service staff still perceived that the customer encounter remained a key requisite for successful service delivery.
Research limitations/implications
Recent environmental developments – involving customers, markets and retail platform structure – are challenging traditional service expectations.
Practical implications
Retailers may need to reassess the role of the service encounter as part of their on-going value proposition.
Originality/value
Limited research to date on the perception of shoppers to the service encounter in a changing retail environment and to the evolving notions of effort and convenience.
Keywords
Citation
Resnick, S., Foster, C. and Woodall, T. (2014), "Exploring the UK high street retail experience: is the service encounter still valued?", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 839-859. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-05-2013-0090
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited