IMPACT OF PERSONAL SERVICE ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN FMCG RETAIL IN CROATIA

Abstract

Globalisation and fierce competition forced companies to realize that satisfied customers are the key to long-term business success. Therefore, customer satisfaction has to be a strategic goal and a core value of the company's culture. Also, the customer satisfaction measurement has to be an indicator of everyone's contribution to the achievement of the goals if companies want to deliver superior service to their customers. The benefits of customer satisfaction are well known in practice as well as in marketing and management literature. Companies that have more satisfied customers experience higher economic returns and customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are increasingly becoming important factors in modern retailing – a market characterized by slow growth and intense competition. Analysis of the retail trade in Croatia showed that it is one of the most developed, most competitive and dynamic economic sectors in the country. The main characteristics of the Croatian retail market are concentration, internationalisation and consolidation the same as in developed markets. The latest development trend is moving toward the construction of modern shopping centres that provide various shopping services and entertainment in one place. Retailers seek to respond more efficiently and more effectively to the needs of customers by managing relationship with customers and offering them superior range and quality of assortment and service. The goal of this paper is to explore impact of personal service on customer satisfaction levels in FMCG retail in Croatia. The results of the research indicated that the level and quality of personal service have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty but the impact of non-personal service on loyalty is even stronger. The research also provides empirical evidence of positive but weak and non-significant link between customer satisfaction and salesperson’s work satisfaction. However, it is necessary to systematically manage customer satisfaction of the both external and internal customer. The results of the research have shown that retail chains are aware of the importance of CRM strategies and larger use of CRM software for this purpose can be expected in future.