The 2010 Excellence in Retailing Study conducted jointly by Ipsos Reid and Shelfspace – The Association for Retail Entrepreneurs – reveals that a majority of consumers in BC deem customer service as the most important factor in determining where they shop. Four in ten (40%) selected “customer service that is both excellent and fits your needs” as the single most important aspect in judging a retailer’s performance.

”Quality retailers know what makes them stand out to their customers, and have been honing their service skills for years,” said Mark Startup, President and CEO of Shelfspace. “These are entrepreneurs who spend time thinking about and working on their business instead of being caught up in their businesses. Many of these retailers will be at the Passion for Retail Conference to hone their skills around the art and the science of retail.”

With the emphasis placed on how a retailer treats their customers ranking so high in importance, it perhaps follows that more BC consumers view independently owned retailers – who might provide a more personal level of customer service – as excellent retailers compared to all other types tested. Of those surveyed, 52% consider most of BC’s independently owned retailers to be excellent overall compared to about one in three retailers that are part of a chain (36% where each store is owned by an individual franchisee, 31% where each store is owned by a company).

Department stores and big box stores fare less favourably as only about one in four BC consumers say that most of these types of BC retailers (27% department stores, 25% big box stores) are excellent retailers overall.

Catherine Dawson, Vice President and head of Ipsos Reid’s retail industry team in Vancouver elaborates, “These results show that service should be the number one priority for retailers who want to be known for excellence. Prices, products and convenience are all important, but delivering those things without strong customer service is a mistake."

The next two factors considered of great importance to retail excellence (by about half as many BC consumers) are price overall being low or competitive, the value for the price charged (23%); the products and services offered are excellent, exactly what the customer wants – quality, selection, uniqueness, etc. (20%).

Fewer than one in ten (8%) ranked the convenience of the experience (including factors such as store being close by or easily accessible, good parking, good hours, etc.) as the most important factor in judging a retailer’s performance.

These findings are being revealed just ahead of Shelfspace’s 2010 Passion for Retail Conference, being held in Burnaby, BC on Tuesday, May 4. The annual conference brings together retail professionals from across Western Canada to learn and share knowledge about the retail industry.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid study fielded from March15 to 21, 2010. This online survey of 628 adult British Columbians was conducted using Ipsos Reid’s proprietary “Voice of the West Interactive Forum” – an online panel of more than 5,000 British Columbians who have been randomly recruited to match the overall characteristics of the adult residents of the province. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online studies of this nature, however, an unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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For more information:
Mark Startup
President & CEO
Shelfspace
604-730-5252
mark@shelfspace.ca
www.shelfspace.ca

About Shelfspace – The Association for Retail Entrepreneurs
Shelfspace is the epicentre of the excellence revolution in the retail world. We highlight and promote excellence in the retail industry, advance the retail profession, and partner with our members in BC and Alberta to achieve greatness.

For more information on study findings:
Catherine Dawson
Vice President
Ipsos Reid
(778) 373-5003
catherine.dawson@ipsos.com  
www.ipsos.ca
For full tabular results of this news release, please visit www.ipsos.ca/reid/retail