Santa Needs To Sharpen His Act - Or Lose Money

Its no longer good enough for Santa to deliver his gift with a Ho,ho,ho – customer service will be high on everyone’s shopping list this Christmas.

A new survey says poor service could cost High Street stores millions of pounds and drive customers away for ever.

Research by Retail Active, Britain’s leading shopping intelligence company, says more than half the shoppers surveyed beleive customer service has declined in the past year.

Eight out of ten wouldn’t shop again at stores giving poor service.

Almost as many said they would spend more on products at stores with good service and more than a quarter said they complain more than they did before the start of the credit crunch.


Retail Active’s managing director, Julian Chamberlain said: “Stores will be having to deal with a customer service time bomb this Christmas.

“The recession has sharpened customers’ demands and more than ever before – seven out of ten - say they are prepared to complain about poor service.

Retail Active has identified several types of shopper who can damage businesses if they are not happy.

“The most dangerous for stores is the “Silent but Deadly” type, says Julian Chamberlain.

“According to our research, nearly a third of customers never complain at all – but they never go back either. And what is worse for retailers, they tell on average nine other people about their dissatisfaction.

“If the average customer value is £100 – that means every silent complaint costs a company at least £900. These figures are confirmed by the Office of Fair Trading, which puts a figure of £935 on the cost of each complaint.

“On the positive side customers who do complain and have their complaint well handled, tell on average 12 people about the great service they received. There is a distinct commercial advantage in good customer service.

“With internet sales booming – online companies are just waiting to welcome customers disillusioned with the High Street.

“This is really a crunch year for High Street Christmas shopping. Our survey shows that customer service will be the vital ingredient in deciding whether customers stay for next year – or desert in droves.”

Retail Active is one of the UK’s leading Customer Intelligence and Mystery Shopping companies. It sends out thousands of agents every year to monitor customer service standards for a wide variety of clients in the retail, leisure, automotive and travel sectors.

Clients include household names Porsche, Lexus and Toyota, P&O, Asda, and Center Parcs.

MALE CONSUMERS SPEND 15% MORE ON LAST MINUTE GIFTS

HAPLESS MALE CONSUMERS SPEND 15% MORE ON GIFTS AS THEY LEAVE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TO LAST MINUTE

Men who loathe shopping and only venture out to buy presents on Christmas Eve rarely get a bargain, retail experts said today.

Dubbed 'Last Minute Man' by sales assistants, he can apparently be spotted sweating profusely as he scrambles through the leftovers of the Christmas shopping rush on December 24th.

In the end he is usually pounced on by a crafty salesman who will convince him to spend hundreds of pounds on gifts never to be seen again after Christmas Day.

The research was carried out by analysts Retail Active, which has been called in by a leading supermarket to train staff to spot the stereotypical Last Minute Man and make him buy something.

It surveyed 2,000 shoppers across the country and found men are 22 per cent more likely than women to do their present-shopping on Christmas Eve, spending on average 15 per cent more than is needed.

Despairing men looking for gifts often spend in excess of £1,000, while their purchases on December 24th account for 63 per cent of all the high-value sales that day.

The firm says 1 per cent of men are so last-minute they even buy their loved-ones presents in a 24-hour petrol station during the early hours of Christmas Day.

Julian Chamberlain, managing director of Retail Active mystery shopping, said: 'Last Minute Man is a salesperson's dream - he's cash rich and time poor. He often makes a 'distress purchase', when all rationality goes out of the window.

'Last Minute Man has no list and browses haplessly from aisle to aisle before going in for the kill with a credit card.

'Often the presents are ill thought-out, over-expensive and with one in three being taken back for refunds in the New Year.

'Another Last Minute Man trait is that they do 'one-stop shopping' by buying all their purchases in just one store.

'He also shops in isolation, whereas women tend to shop together as a social event, taking in the Christmas spirit.'

Mr Chamberlain added: 'We have been coaching staff on the jewellery counters of a major supermarket chain on how to spot him and make sure he doesn't get away without a sale.

'They have to look for a man looking through a wide variety of stock, not knowing what to buy and wearing a blank expression.

'He's got money but no time and he will end up spending more than he has to. We train staff to be extra helpful, offer him a choice of gifts, make a recommendation and then close the sale. He represents an ideal sales opportunity.'

As part of the survey, shoppers were asked questions about when they shop, the value of the presents they bought and how often they had to return unwanted gifts.

Following the study, Retail Active came up with a list of top tips to help wives and girlfriends to ensure their present, and those for the family, are bought with consideration.

A potential Last Minute Man should ask family, friends and partners what they would like, write a list, shop earlier and plan a special treat for Christmas Eve when they should be shopping.

Women can apparently help their men by providing them with a list and allowing them a reward, such as a visit to the pub to watch football, once they have ticked off so many items.