The REACT Customer Satisfaction Index (RCSI) focused on areas such as: Overall Quality, Service Quality, Value for money and Reliability. The study focused on all the previous experiences from a brand including the reputation of chosen brands.
Nationally 5 128 South African consumers completed the interviews. Respondents had to qualify as customers and responses were spontaneous; they were not prompted about any specific brands - REACT wanted to obtain fair feedback regarding a brands and their general quality and service levels within the SA retail industry.
The reported category breakdowns were derived from the Statistics South African classification codes. The six categories were ranked as follows:
Fashion Retail - 8.43, Restaurant/Fast Food - 8.40, Speciality stores - 8.37, Supermarkets - 8.33, Fuel Service Stations - 8.13 and Discount Stores - 8.07.
Overall the Retail Industry was given a 7.9 score on a scale from 1 to 10. The ratings were done on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest possible rating.
Most of the categories compete closely on all the measured variables, however, price was rated exceptionally negatively in the Fuel Service category.
In general, South African consumers do not complain, and if they do, their complaints are generally resolved in an unsatisfactory manner. More than 90% of respondents who complained believed their complaints were not handled in the correct manner.
Consumers visit the retail outlets they do, despite the quality of service rendered. Service quality was the worst performing variable in the survey. This is perhaps an indication of the buoyant market and the increase in disposable income.
In categories such as the Petroleum and Supermarket, value for money was scored the lowest, in the mind of respondents these two categories were seen almost as a grudge purchase.
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