Dimensions of service quality in grocery retailing: a case from Turkey

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine the difference between service quality dimensions of supermarkets and discount stores. Design/methodology/approach -The paper focuses on service quality dimensions of customers in supermarkets and discount stores. The study has selected one store from each retailer type located in Eskisehir, Turkey and used the scale of the service quality of retail stores. The research has employed a face-to-face questionnaire for collecting data from customers on different days and at different hours of the week. A total of 891 questionnaires, 682 for supermarkets and 209 for discount stores, have been analysed. Findings -Results indicate that the customers of the supermarket and the discount store differ in their perception of some service quality dimensions. While the supermarket customers perceive physical aspects and store policy dimensions at a higher level, the discount store's customers give more priority to interaction with personnel dimension. Research limitations/implications -Further qualitative studies can provide deeper insights about service quality dimensions of supermarkets and discount stores. The results are also a starting point for further academic research about the different retailer types. Practical implications -The paper contributes to the understanding of behaviours and attitudes of supermarket and discount store customers. Retailers in Turkey will primarily benefit from the study. Originality/value -The paper compares the customer perception of service quality dimensions of two different types of grocery retailers; a supermarket and a discount store.

Measuring Grocery Stores Service Quality in Indonesia: A Retail Service Quality Scale Approach

“…Providing a large and convenient parking space would influence consumers' desire to shop at grocery stores because the majority of consumers were middle to upper income groups who brought their own vehicles when shopping. Overall, all of the above results are in accordance with the retail service quality scale as proposed by (Dabholkar et al, 1996) and proven empirically by (Abu, 2004); (Torlak et al, 2010); (Vazquez et al, 2001); (Ahmad et al, 2014). The implications for store managers are to maintain and improve services and facilities in stores that make consumers comfortable for long shopping.…”

“…Some of them offer a large and diverse range of products, while others offer a variety of pricing policies (Levy, Weitz, & Grewal, 1998), attractive and convenient store interior conditions to increase consumer time around (Andreu, Bigné, Chumpitaz, & Swaen, 2006) and provide shop assistants who are ready to help and promote certain products (Torlak et al, 2010). (Siu & Chow, 2004) analyzed service quality in Japanese grocery retailing in Hong Kong by using a retail service quality scale consisting of physical aspects, reliability, personal interactions, problem solving and policies, following (Dabholkar, Thorpe, & Rentz, 1996).…”

“…The last indicator was policies. These indicators indicated the specific policies on retail stores on products quality, parking, operation hours, and method of payment, pricing strategy and brand setting (Dabholkar et al, 1996); (Vazquez et al, 2001); (Abu, 2004); (Torlak et al, 2010). All of those indicators cannot be measured when we analyze service quality in retail stores by using SERVQUAL.…”

“…This is because consumers do not only want quality products at competitive prices, but also the quality and convenience of the shopping process. In addition, the provision and arrangement of various products in one place make the efficiency of shopping time can be achieved (Torlak, Uzkurt, & Özmen, 2010); (Canada, 2011); (Terano, binti Yahya, Mohamed, & bin Saimin, 2015). The higher consumer preference for shopping in modern grocery stores makes this business competition even higher (Sirohi, McLaughlin, & Wittink, 1998).…”

“…In this study, examined consumer perceptions of service quality in one of the modern grocery stores in Indonesia. Prior research on service quality has been widely practiced, but there is still little evidence in term of service quality in modern grocery stores (Lewis & Thomas, 1990); (Vazquez et al, 2001); (Siu & Chow, 2004); (Torlak et al, 2010). In addition, the differences in the method of service quality analysis, creating different contribution of each study to the literature.…”