During a recession, with consumer confidence at a low ebb, keeping your customers satisfied and retaining them is vital for survival. Retailers need to understand how they satisfy their shoppers in order to enhance their appeal and increase customer loyalty. Moreover, an insight into what drives customer satisfaction at competitors is essential to win customers from them.

Scope

*Measures and ranks customer satisfaction for all significant retailers in the sector over six years (2005-2010).

*Includes ratings for eight performance metrics: price, range, quality, service, convenience, ambience, layout and facilities.

*Covers 21 retailers including Asda, Clarks, Marks & Spencer, Barratts, Stead & Simpson, New Look, Next, River Island, Tesco, Faith and Office.

Highlights

Non-specialists have continued to move up the rankings in 2010, as specialists struggle to compete on measures including price, convenience, ambience and facilities. Value players Asda, Tesco, Matalan and New Look have all gained higher CSI scores this year, benefitting from the challenging market and consumers being forced to trade down.

Asda takes the number one spot from TK Maxx after two years at the top, achieving good scores across ambience, layout, convenience and price. Its renewed attention on enhancing product quality is reflected in its improved quality score and ranking in 2010, placing it above its value competitors TK Maxx, Matalan and Tesco.

Clarks' reputation for providing good quality footwear continues to give it the top position for quality, placed just above that of competitor Marks & Spencer. However, its drop in service and range is concerning, since consumers have high expectations of Clarks and its products, and this is integral to its strategy.

Reasons to Purchase

*Identify the preferences of your shoppers and how successful you are in delivering on them to help you retain your customers.

*Understand the weaknesses of your competitors' customer proposition and exploit them to your advantage.

*Independently track how strategies and management policy are affecting or influencing customer satisfaction.