Customer satisfaction explored – improvement strongest in sporting goods, greatest improvement in daily consumer goods and hardware chains

Customer satisfaction has grown across all trade sectors in Finland. The growth was the strongest in sporting goods, while medical services plunged. In spite of this, the level of satisfaction with medical services is very high: customer satisfaction is the strongest in medical services, hotel sector and daily consumer goods trade.

Of the sectors covered, sporting goods trade and daily consumer goods trade have improved the most from the previous year, but also hardware has invested in understanding the consumer and improved on customer experience. The biggest improvement in customer satisfaction was seen in sporting goods, daily consumer goods and hardware chains – such as R-kioski, K-supermarket, Scandinavian Outdoor, Partioaitta and Värisilmä stores.

Low price no guarantee for good price experience

Of all trade sectors, women and over-50s are the most satisfied with daily consumer goods trade. Chief Economist Jaana Kurjenoja from the Finnish Commerce Federation is particularly happy to see that the price experience – i.e. both price-quality ratio and price competitiveness – has improved in daily consumer goods trade, and exceeds the average price experience across all service sectors.

“A good price experience plays a key role in customer service. Food business is not merely a part of a food supply chain formed by industry and trade – it is expressly consumer service”, says Kurjenoja.

The improvement in price experience, and a good price-quality ratio experience, in particular, was the greatest in sporting goods trade.

A low price alone does not necessarily guarantee a good price experience, let alone customer satisfaction. The price experience and customer satisfaction levels are below average in number of cheap and fast fashion chains as well as in fast food restaurants also among young people and millennials, although they are often associated as the target group of such businesses.

Daily consumer goods trade succeeds in service

Of al the sectors covered, daily consumer goods trade creates the best service experience: above all, customers value location and successful service provision. The strongest improvement was seen as regards the service experience in the sporting goods trade. Regardless of the sector, the retailers creating the best customer satisfaction were often more successful than average in the day-to-day service provision.

“A competent and dedicated staff certainly is a competitive advantage for retailers seeking to increase customer satisfaction”, Kurjenoja emphasises.

According to Kurjenoja, the over-50s are generally more satisfied with any sector, while sporting goods has won over the hears of the young. In addition to greater general satisfaction in sporting goods, the under-25s value the service experience, in particular. Of all age groups, they appreciate the atmosphere of sporting goods stores, and feel that these stores match their needs best. “Sporting goods trade knows how to serve the young!”, Kurjenoja sums up.

Customer service is a competitive advantage – also in Christmas commerce

Christmas has traditionally held its place as the number one season in retail business. December sales have increased on average by a quarter, and more than doubled in some areas of specialty goods trade.

“It is important that the customers value the service provided by the commerce sector in Finland, and that customer satisfaction has grown. Service is our competitive edge also in Christmas commerce”, Jaana Kurjenoja notes.

The Finnish consumer is, however, also price-driven, which is reflected in the hunt for Black Friday bargains. The Finnish consumer starts the hunt for bargains online earlier than the Swedish or British consumer. The Black Friday sales peak already at the early hours of the day, whereas in Sweden or the UK, the sales peak later in the afternoon or evening.

The majority of Black Friday e-commerce is mobile, and the share of mobile only increases in terms of research for products as Christmas is getting closer.

In recent years, Christmas sales have been impacted by the Black Friday phenomenon: in specialty goods trade and especially in household appliances, where Christmas spending now tends to move towards November. December is still by far the top month in terms of sales, but the relative importance of November has increased.

For more details, please contact: Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)40 820 5378, jaana.kurjenoja@kauppa.fi

The customer satisfaction index is part of the research cooperation between Professor of Practice Lasse Mitronen from Aalto University and the Finnish Commerce Federation. A sample of 5,035 residents of mainland Finland was collected for the customer satisfaction index by Kantar TNS. Each respondent has evaluated 2-3 service companies, and the data consists of 12,884 customer evaluations in total.

For details, see appendices.

Appendices:

The Finnish Commerce Federation represents commerce – the largest sector of economic life. Commerce employs around 300,000 people in Finland. The Federation has around 7,000 member companies and represents both retail and wholesale commerce in industry policy and labour market lobbying. Kauppa.fi