ERT Take a Town feature

ERT TAKE A TOWN  FEATURE

Our Take a Town mystery shoppers list the best 10 retailers they visited during 2015 – five independents and five multiples

TAKE A TOWN, ERT’s mystery shopping feature, continues to be one of the most read sections of the magazine and is as relevant now as when it was first introduced.

In 2015, the mystery shopping team called in at 12 locations across the UK.

The team kicked off in Plymouth in January, before heading off to Middlesbrough, Preston and Guildford.

Then in May, it was the turn of Bath, before our mystery shoppers called in at stores in Grimsby, Doncaster and west Wales. And in the last quarter of 2015, the team visited stores in Coventry, Maidstone and Horsham.

For this issue, the team headed to the English Riviera and the popular seaside towns of Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

Mystery shopping started in the 1940s, and the Mystery Shopping Providers Association says well over a million assessments are carried out every year.

For ERT ’s Take a Town feature, mystery shopping is not about catching staff doing something wrong, but giving them a chance to show off their skills and training.

The importance of customer service and sales skills should not be underestimated, according to the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).

Jo Causon, ICS chief executive, says that retailers must not rely on a short-term approach to attract and retain customers and, instead, focus on improving how easy they are to do business with over a sustained period.

Ms Causon says: “Whether it’s on the high street or online, customers are demanding faster service, increased choice and better quality goods as the price for their loyalty. It means that how retailers respond and improve the overall customer experience is increasingly becoming a key differentiator and the retailers most likely to succeed, and consistently perform, will be those better able to personalise their service. ”

ICS research shows that customer satisfaction in the retail sector has dropped over the past 12 months. It is partly because customers are demanding more, but is also a sign that challenger brands have made real inroads into the customer base of more established retailers, through a sustained focus on the customer experience.

Those retailers who respond with innovative ideas that put customer needs at the heart of what they do, making greater connections across the whole service experience and understanding personal needs, will be the ones to see their profitability and market share improve.

Across the retail non-food sector, levels of customer satisfaction have declined during the past year, according to the ICS UK Customer Satisfaction Index. The top spot has not been awarded to a British retailer for the first time since the Index was created in 2009 – and the number one position has gone to a bank.