Drishtikon: A Management Journal

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Retail Store Service Quality: Insights from Indian Retail


Affiliations
1 Department of Commerce, Motilal Nehru College, South Campus, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Services have surpassed other sectors in terms of contributing to the economic growth and enhancing consumers' lifestyle. Retail in particular is touching new horizons by being organised and modernised. Retail structure has undergone tremendous transformation. Retail has found a prominent place in consumers' life by providing them with enriched experiences. However, the inviting retail sector is not left untouched by the powerful environmental forces. As the modern retail opens up possibilities of profit and expansion, it also carries with it the risks associated with management of complex retail operations and the ever-changing customer needs and demands. Researchers and practitioners have identified service quality as a key to gain competitive superiority and sustain effectively in the marketplace. In this background, the present paper seeks to explore the service quality perceptions across demographics in order to understand the differences among the customer segments and thereby uncover crucial service quality parameters for the retailers to empahsize upon.

Keywords

Retail, Service Quality, Customer Loyalty, Hypermarkets.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Angur, M. G., Nataraajan, R., & Jahera Jr, J. S. (1999). Service quality in the banking industry: An assessment in a developing economy. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 17(3).

  • Augustyn, M., & Ho, S. (1998). Service quality and tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 37(1), 71-5.

  • Babakus, E., & Boller, G. W. (1992). An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Business Research, 24, 253-68.

  • Bennett, D., & Higgins, M. (1998). Quality means more than Smiles. ABA Banking Journal, 46.

  • Berry, L. L., & Greshman, L. G. Relationship Retailing: Transforming customers into clients. Business Horizons, 43-47.

  • Berry, L. L., Parasuraman, A., & Zeithaml, V. A. (1998). The service quality puzzle. Business Horizon, 31(5), 35-43.

  • Bhat, M. A. (2005). Correlates of service quality in banks: An empirical investigation. Journal of Services Research, 5(1), 77-99.

  • Bolton, R. N., & Drew, J. H. (1991a.). A longitudinal analysis of the impact of service changes on customer attitudes. Journal of Marketing, 55(1), 1-9.

  • Bolton, R. N., & Drew, J. H. (1991b.). A multistage model of customers' assessments of service quality and value. Journal of Consumer Research, 17, 375-84.

  • Boshoff, C., & Terblance, N.S. 1997. Measuring retail service quality: a replica study. South African Journal of Business Management, 28(4), 123-128.

  • Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R. & Zeithaml, V. A. (1993). A dynamic process model of service quality: From expectations to behavioral intentions. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 7-27.

  • Bowen, J. W., & Hedges, R. B. (1993). Increasing service quality in retail banking. Journal of Retail Banking, 15, 21-28.

  • Buzzell, R. D. & Gale, B.T. (1987). The PIMS Principles: Linking strategy to performance. Free Press, New York.

  • Carman, J. M. (1990). Consumer perceptions of service quality: An assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, 66, 35-55.

  • Cronin, J. J., & Taylor, S. A. (1992). Measuring service quality: A re-examination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56, 55-68.

  • Dabholkar, P. A., Shepherd, D. C., & Thorpe, D. I. (2000). A comprehensive framework for Service Quality: An investigation of critical conceptual and measurement issues through a longitudinal study. Journal of Retailing, 76(2), 139-73.

  • Dabholkar, P. A., Thorpe, D. I., & Rentz, J.O. (1996). A measure of Service Quality for retail stores: Scale development and validation. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 24(1), 3-16.

  • Das, A. (2005). Mall Management. Taxmann Allied Services (P.) Ltd.

  • Donabedian, A. (1966). Evaluating the quality of medical care. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 44(3), 166-206.

  • Finn, D.W., & Lamb, C. W. (1991). An evaluation of the SERVQUAL scales in a retailing setting. In Advances in Consumer Research. Provo, Ut: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 483-490.

  • Fisk, R. P., Brown, S. W., & Bitner, M. J. (1993). Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature. Journal of Retailing, 69(2), 61-103.

  • Gilbert, D. (2003). Retail marketing management. Pearson Education.

  • Goncalves, K. P. (1998). Services marketing: A strategic approach. Prentice Hall.

  • Gronroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18(4), 36-44.

  • Gronroos, C. (1990). Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organizational behavior interface. Journal of Business Research, 20, 3-11.

  • Hakansson, H., & Snehota, I. (1995). Developing relationships in business networks. Routledge, London.

  • Heung, V. (2000). Satisfaction levels of mainland Chinese travellers with Hong Kong hotel services. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12, 308-315.

  • Hummel, J. W., & Savitt, R. (1988). Integrated customer service and retail strategy. International Journal of Retailing, 3(2), 5-21.

  • Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2000). Customer loyalty in the hotel industry: The role of customer satisfaction and image. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(6), 346-351.

  • Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2003). The role of customer satisfaction and image in gaining customer loyalty in the hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 10(1/2), 3-25.

  • Kasper, H., Helsdinger, P. V., & Vries Jr., W. (2000). Services marketing management: An international perspective. John Wiley and Sons, England.

  • Kaul, S. (2007). Measuring retail service quality: Examining applicability of international research perspectives in India. Vikalpa, 32(1), 15-26.

  • Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing management. The Millenium Book, Prentice Hall.

  • Kim, S., & Jin, B. (2002). Validating the Retail Service Quality Scale for US and Korean customers of discount stores: An exploratory study. Journal of Services Marketing, 16(2), 223-37.

  • Lehtinen, U., & Lehtinen, J. R. (1982). Service quality: A study of quality dimensions. Service Management Institute. Helsinki, Finland: Working paper.

  • Lewis, B. R. (1989). Quality in the service sector: A review. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 7(5), 4-12.

  • Martinelli, E., & Balboni, B. (2012). Retail service quality as a key activator of grocery store loyalty. The Service Industries Journal, 32(14), 1-15.

  • Mehta, S. C., Lalwani, A. K., & Han, S. L. (2000). Service quality in retailing: Relative efficiency of alternative measurement scales for different product-service environments. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 28(2), 62-72.

  • Mels, G., Boshoff, C., & Nel, D. (1997). The dimensions of service quality: The original European perspective revisited. Service Industries Journal, 17(1), 173-89.

  • Mersha, T., Sriram, V., Yeshanew, H., & Gebre, Y. (2012). Perceived service quality in Ethopian retail banks. Thunderbird International Business Review, 54(4), 560-565.

  • Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The Commitment-Trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20-38.

  • Nadiri, H., & d Tumer, M. (2009). Retail service quality and behavioural intentions: An empirical application of the retail service quality scale in Northern Cyprus. E+M EKonomie A Management, 2, 127-138.

  • Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 12-40.

  • Parasuraman, A., Berry, L. L., & Zeithaml, V. A. (1991a.). Understanding customer expectations of service. Sloan Management Review, 32, 39-48.

  • Parikh, D. 2006. Measuring Retail Service Quality: An empirical assessment of the instrument. Vikalpa, Ahemdabad, 31(2), 45-55.

  • Philip, G., & Hazlett, S. A. (1997). The measurement of service quality: A new P-C-P attributes model. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 14(3), 260-286.

  • Phillips, L. W., Chang, D., & Buzzell, R. D. (1983). Product quality, cost position and business performance: A test of some key hypotheses. Harvard Business School. Boston: Working Paper.

  • Ramakrishnan, M., & Ravindran, S. (2012). Customer expectation of retail service quality-a comparative study of departmental stores in Coimbatore. International Journal of Research in Finance and Marketing, 2(7), 27-37.

  • Rao, C. P., & Kelkar, M. M. (1997). Relative impact of performance and important ratings on measurement of service quality. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 15(2), 69-86.

  • Ravichandran, K., Jayakumar, D. S., & Samad, K. A. (2008). Service quality: Food retail. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 25-41.

  • Reichheld, F. F., & Sasser, Jr., W. E. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105-111.

  • Robinson, J. (1999). Following the quality strategy: The reasons for the use of quality management in UK public leisure facilities. Managing Leisure: An International Journal, 4(4), 201-217.

  • Rust, R. T., & Oliver, R. L. (1994). Service quality: Insights and managerial implications from the frontier. In Rust, R.T, & Oliver, R. L.

  • (Eds). Service quality: New directions in theory and practice. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, 1-20.

  • Sharma, A. & Mehta, V. (2004). Service quality in financial services-A case study of banking services. Journal of Services Research, 4(2), 205-222.

  • Shemwell, D. J., Yavas, U., & Bilgin, Z. (1998). Customer-service provider relationships: An empirical test of a model of service quality, satisfaction and relationship-oriented outcomes. International Journal of Service, 9(2), 155-168.

  • Singh, S. K., & Singh, N. (2011). A chronological study of service quality research on retail sector. VSRD International Journal of Business Management and Research, 1(6), 362-369.

  • Siu, N. Y. M., & Cheung, J. T-H. (2001). A measure of retail service quality. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 19(2), 88-96.

  • Smith, A. M. (1995). The consumer's evaluation of service quality: An examination of the SERVQUAL methodology. Doctoral dissertation, University of Manchester, British Thesis Service, D189377.

  • Spreng, R. A., & Mackoy, R. D. (1996). An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction. Journal of Retailing, 72(2), 201-214.

  • Sultam, P., & Wong, H. Y. (2011). Service quality in a higher education context: Antecedents and dimensions. International Review of Business Research Papers, 7(2), 11-20.

  • Svensson, G. (2006). New aspects of research into service encounters and service quality. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(3), 245-257.

  • Taylor, S. A., & Cronin Jr, J. J. (1994). Marketing patient satisfaction and service quality. Journal of Health Care Marketing, Spring, 14(1), 34-44.

  • Teas, R. K. (1993). Expectations, performance evaluation, and consumers' perceptions of quality. Journal of Marketing, 57(4), 18-34.

  • Teas, R. K. (1994). Expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: An assessment of a reassessment. Journal of Marketing, 58, 132-139.

  • Torlak, O., Uzkurt, C., & Ozmen, M. (2010). Dimensions of service quality in grocery retailing: a case from Turkey. Management research Review, 33(5), 413-422.

  • Tzeng, G. H., Jen, W., & Hu, K. C. (2002). Fuzzy factor analysis for selecting service quality factors-A case of the service quality of city bus service. International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, 4(1), 911-921.

  • Vandamme, R., & Leunis, J. (1992). Development of a multi-item scale for the measurement of hospital service quality. Second International Seminar in Service Management, 666-685.

  • Vogt, C. A., & Fesenmaier, D.R. (1995). Tourists and retailers' perception of services. Annals of Tourism Research, 22(4), 763-780.

  • Webster, C. (1989). Can consumer be segmented on the basis of their service quality expectations? Journal of Services Marketing, Spring, 3, 73-80.

  • Wong, A., & Sohal, A. (2002). An examination of the relationship between trust, commitment and relationship quality. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30(1).

  • Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31-46.


Abstract Views: 377

PDF Views: 2




  • Retail Store Service Quality: Insights from Indian Retail

Abstract Views: 377  |  PDF Views: 2

Authors

Ekta Duggal
Department of Commerce, Motilal Nehru College, South Campus, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

Abstract


Services have surpassed other sectors in terms of contributing to the economic growth and enhancing consumers' lifestyle. Retail in particular is touching new horizons by being organised and modernised. Retail structure has undergone tremendous transformation. Retail has found a prominent place in consumers' life by providing them with enriched experiences. However, the inviting retail sector is not left untouched by the powerful environmental forces. As the modern retail opens up possibilities of profit and expansion, it also carries with it the risks associated with management of complex retail operations and the ever-changing customer needs and demands. Researchers and practitioners have identified service quality as a key to gain competitive superiority and sustain effectively in the marketplace. In this background, the present paper seeks to explore the service quality perceptions across demographics in order to understand the differences among the customer segments and thereby uncover crucial service quality parameters for the retailers to empahsize upon.

Keywords


Retail, Service Quality, Customer Loyalty, Hypermarkets.

References