CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF RETAIL SERVICES : A CASE STUDY OF GIORDANO ORIGINALS (S) PRIVATE LIMITED

Abstract

"Giordano means service" - the slogan adopted by Giordano Originals (S) Private Limited - is a belief, a philosophy, a culture and a life-long campaign towards the achievement of excellent customer service. The company is organized and run such that the customer service philosophy is reflected in all its various operational systems, such as human resource development and training, merchandising and marketing. The case study involved the use of interviews with the management of Giordano, and a questionnaire survey. Information on the organization was collected through interviews. Data on the service performance of Giordano's retail staff were obtained by means of the questionnaires collected and analyzed. T-tests and the Pearson correlation procedures were the main statistical tools used in the analysis of the data. The major findings of the study showed the importance of augmented product attributes like the free telephone service and the retail staff services provided by Giordano, as well as the importance of actual product attributes such as product quality. Customer services as represented by the store and sales staff services, were also found to be tools for differentiating Giordano from the competition. Staff service performance was important in influencing the favourable perceptions that customers had of Giordano's customer service philosophy. Giordano was found to be very successful in implementing its customer service strategy, but the company was not rated highly in terms of its product quality. Although augmented product attributes reflected in the services provided by the retail outlets were important, the core and actual products shown through physical features such as quality, variety and prices were found to be relatively more important when it came to making purchases. The implications of the findings are discussed within the context of the Singapore consumer market.