Quality management in retailing through 'service-product design'

Abstract

One of the key service quality challenges for the 1990s is service design-a form of architecture involving processes. This paper examines the role of 'service-product' design and the management of quality in retailing. The quality of virtually any retail service depends on how well innumerable retail products are complemented by the same retail service process to satisfy customers' shopping experience. The author here argues that quality in retailing is a package, consisting of goods quality and service quality in combination. Although service constitutes only a small part of the whole retail system, service quality holds the crucial balance in terms of the success or failure of the retail package. Hence, it is apparent that, as parts of the retail package, products and services have to be designed from a holistic perspective. The emphasis here is on 'multiple service' (a phenomenon where a single service design serves inherently different products), a distinctive feature of retail practice. As a result, a retail product's design warrants careful consideration before its incorporation into the system. Failure to correlate product and service design may result in service failure and subsequent customer dissatisfaction. The author investigates the existing systems, design processes and practices, and the necessity of a service-product design in retailing.