Perceptions of retail service quality at supermarkets in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail sector is growing rapidly, and competition has become intense as new supermarkets enter the retail marketplace. It is important for retailers to align themselves with the constant fluctuations of customer demands and their expectations of service quality (SQ) in order to stay ahead of the competition. SQ plays a vital role in the retail industry as it assists retailers to increase value for their customers, to retain customers, and maintain their competitive advantage. Recently, the world has been subjected to enormous environmental changes, due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). Associated with this has been a dramatic economic downturn which has been strongly felt in South Africa. As a result, shopping patterns have been impacted as customers have felt insecure and searched for safer methods (for example, patronising smaller retailers and shopping online) to secure their daily needs. Customer satisfaction, trust and customer loyalty are all important attributes that retailers desire from their customers. This study aimed to evaluate how customer perceptions of retail service quality (RSQ) dimensions might affect customer satisfaction, trust and customer loyalty in supermarkets, considering the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. To accomplish this, a quantitative study was conducted by means of an online questionnaire that was distributed via social media platforms. The researcher incorporated the five dimensions of the retail service quality scale (RSQS), namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem-solving and policy, to assess customers’ perceptions of RSQ, with hygiene incorporated as an additional dimension to this scale. Respondents were selected by means of a convenience method which is a non-probability sampling method. The snowball technique was selected due to the difficulty of approaching people individually during the Covid-19 crisis, as well as the prohibitive cost of using a commercial database. Data was analysed by means of the latest SPSS software (version 25). The findings of this study shows that the RSQS is a suitable and reliable tool to measure RSQ under the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study reveals that excellent RSQ has a positive contribution towards customer satisfaction, trust and customer loyalty during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings of this study reveal that five dimensions of RSQS (hygiene, physical aspects, reliability, problem solving and personal interaction) had a significant and positive effect on customer satisfaction and trust, but the policy dimension was not found to be significant. This study should assist supermarket managers to understand customers’ perceptions of RSQ since the advent of the Covid-19 crisis, and their effect on satisfaction, trust and customer loyalty. This will enable retailers to make better strategic decisions regarding the quality of the services that they offer going forward, thereby becoming more attractive to customers. It will also contribute towards ongoing academic research on RSQ.