The rise of inconvenience stores
At the till of a large retailer my groceries are dropped and then carelessly shoved into bags, while the manager, assisting the teller, doesn't look at me or greet me when I greet her. In the arts and crafts store, the staff can’t answer my questions, and at another store, there are price discrepancies – again! No wonder, even for me, a long-time advocate of retail therapy, shopping has become a chore – a tedious but necessary task. ?
What’s going on in our stores? I’ve become so used to terrible customer service, that engaging with someone friendly, efficient, and helpful is a treat. Shopping used to help me relieve stress, but now it just adds to it. According to the?South African Retail Sentiment Index, which measures Net Sentiment across three identified customer satisfaction drivers: pricing, customer service, and product offering; while consumer sentiment around pricing (32%) and products (21.8%) was positive, customer service (-68.4%) drove negativity across the industry, PwC South Africa reported in June.
Shopping is an inconvenience
Missing and incorrect prices, long queues, grumpy tellers, rude, incompetent managers, not finding the right size, trolleys with wobbly wheels, lack of stock, staff not being able to guide, help or answer questions… the list of bad experiences goes on. I sympathise with retailers, who are facing their own troubles with things like theft and load shedding, but when they place plastic security tags on bras preventing customers to fit them, or if the store cannot take payments (apart from cash) during load shedding, unfortunately, they risk losing money and (irritated) customers. Advertising promotions in store that are no longer running, only having 20 bottles of shampoo and no conditioner on the shelf during a special offer (I can’t buy one without the other), and heavily increasing prices could have the same effect.
At a coffee shop in my area, we were seated and then ignored for nearly 30 minutes – twice! I don’t care how good the food is, if there’s no service, we won’t return, and we haven’t. I think my pet peeve is when I say, “Hi. I need a bag please,” only to hear a short, sometimes rude, “Plastic?” or “You need a bag?” a second later. No attention paid whatsoever. Customers are spending their money in your store, the least you can do, is listen and pack the products with care. As Henry Ford said, “It is the customer who pays the wages.”
Although you don’t have to deal with people when shopping online, you’re not exempt from disappointment. Colours often differ from the images shown, the size of products aren’t as expected, the texture is different as described, the books are in small print… We don’t always receive what we expected – we’ve all seen those infuriating but hilarious photos of people wearing the dresses they purchased online vs the images on the sites. After buying a local product online, I was notified that they were out of stock – three weeks later!
A shocking interaction
Two Sundays ago, we walked into a hardware store. 30 Minutes later, we left the store, vouching to never set foot in it again. Many customers say, “I’ll never shop here again!”, but when I say it, I mean it.
At the entrance, there was a display on which ‘special’ products had big, bright prices. We wanted to purchase a few of one of the advertised products, but were told, when checking stock, that the price was incorrect. Since the price was pasted on the product, and the price tag matched the product description and barcode of the product, it was clearly the store’s error. Instead of acknowledging and apologising for the false advertising and error, and then rectifying the matter, the floor manager immediately started a dispute. The unprofessional manager should’ve known how to deal with the situation, and he should’ve known the consumer law, but without settling the matter, he walked away and glared at us from across the store. As instructed by another staff member we took the price tag with us to the till, where the authorised staff member checked the price, description, and barcode before proceeding with a price override, giving us the products for the advertised price.
While loading the paid products into our vehicle, the staff member that helped us, the one that did the override, and the unhelpful, rude floor manager stormed us in the parking lot, where the floor manager started an argument over the price – again. He also threatened the two other panicked staff members, turning an easy to rectify matter into a major tussle, in the parking lot! After the products were paid for. In what world is that acceptable? The manager’s behaviour was appalling; he single-handedly chased away frequent customers.
The terrible floor manager?
A floor manager is supposed to help – answer questions and resolve issues, not push it down on another staff member because they don’t want to deal with it or walk away when the customer disagrees. They should have people and problem-solving skills and know how to resolve conflict. In this case, the store made a mistake by advertising the incorrect price. Instead of introducing himself, checking his ego, and then calmy explaining that the store had made an error, and apologising for it, he told us that the advertisement was for another product, which was a lie – as stated, the descriptor and barcode matched.
He disrespected and threatened to have his colleagues fired, in front of customers. It wasn’t their fault, which I pointed out. He kept interrupting us while we spoke and suddenly, he wanted to apply the consumer law to rectify the matter. He should’ve done that in the store when we first queried the price, not during a brawl at a customer’s vehicle. Lying to customers; intimidating, disrespecting, and humiliating customers and colleagues; and being vindictive and rude because a customer challenges you, especially when the store is at fault, is unacceptable! For the entire store to suffer because of the behaviour of colleagues is not okay. Hopefully, store owners and managers take complaints against employees like these very seriously.
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People influence people
People talk, and they’re more likely to share their bad experiences with others via conversation, online reviews, and social media. They also don’t easily forget bad experiences. It takes just one bad experience to ruin a store and its reputation. As Warren Buffet once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
PwC South Africa reports that in the June 2023 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey of 8 975 consumers in 25 countries and territories (including South Africa), consumers said that they begin by scouring the internet to amass information about a particular product or service, compare prices, read reviews, and consider retailers. According to Live And Learn Consultancy, 7 out of 10 people search for?online business reviews?before they make a purchase – they’ll consider or even research what other people have said before they make a purchase. “90% of people will take the advice of friends or family when considering a purchase.” The Citizen reported that a 2023 survey by Rogerwilco shows that reviews are among the most performed actions online, with 67% of consumers expressing their options and complaints thought online platforms.
South Africans are under pressure
Many South Africans worry about how they’ll make it to the next payday. “Growing interest rates, high inflation and load shedding continue to keep consumers under severe pressure in Q2 2023,” reports BusinessTech. They’re looking for good deals and good service, and they’ll spend their hard-earned money at the stores that satisfy these needs. Sometimes they go to stores for convenience or proximity, but if their experiences are bad, they'll go to the next store, to a competitor.
Last week, BusinessTech also reported that retail sales in South Africa have recorded another year-on-year decline for June 2023, with retailers expected to have a tough couple of months ahead. The Mail & Guardian reported a bleak outlook for South Africa’s struggling retail sector. The sector is stuck in a low-growth environment because people are spending less or spending down where possible, independent analyst Simon Brown said.”
What else do customers want?
The survey by Rogerwilco indicates a growing disappointment towards brands that fail to meet customer expectations, and that customers yearn for good shopping experiences in-store. Apart from consistently good service, CORRECT prices should be on all products/shelves. The price on the product cannot be less than the price at the till point. There are also too many products with NO prices. Customers don’t want to have to check everything; it makes shopping unpleasant and stressful, especially when staff give them attitude. What they want, is helpful, friendly, knowledgeable, and well-trained staff. They like to buy quality, well-priced products, in stores that are organised and clean, and where their queries and purchases are handled with care and staff members don’t follow them around.
Great customer service is expected
Data supports that great customer service is an expectation. One report stated that over 60% of consumers say they have cut ties with a brand due to poor customer service, which is the direct connection between a business and its customers, and a key player when building brand image and loyalty. Issues and queries need to be dealt with as fast and efficiently as possible, in a civil way. By providing top-notch customer service, retailers can retain customers and recoup customer acquisition costs.
Rogerwilco CEO, Charlie Stewart urges consumers to hold brands accountable through online reviews and recommendations. To those who offer great service, I say thank you. To consumers I say, know your rights and make yourself heard.