An empirical study on the retail service quality with special reference to Coimbatore city

This paper throws light on the service quality practices of organized retail stores that contribute to the customer satisfaction in Coimbatore City, Tamilnadu. India Retail Report of 2009 predicts that total retail sales will grow from US$357billion in 2008 to more than US$711billion by 2013. Strong underlying economic growth, population expansion, the increasing wealth of individuals and the rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure are key factors behind the forecast growth. As well as an ever-expanding middle- and upper-class consumer base, there will also be opportunities in India's tier II and tier III cities. The greater availability of personal credit and a growing vehicle population that provides improved mobility that also contribute to a trend towards annual retail sales growth of 15 percent in US dollar terms. India's nominal GDP was US$1.17trillion in 2008. Average annual GDP growth of 6.5 percent is predicted by BMI to 2013. With the population forecast to increase from an estimated 1.19billion in 2008 to 1.27billion by 2013, GDP per capita is expected to expand by nearly 59 percent by the end of the forecast period, to reach a projected US$1,563. Our assumption of consumer spending per capita is for a rise from US$594 in 2008 to US$1,105 in 2013.

This research was undertaken by the researcher to analyze the Service Quality of the Organized Retail Stores that contributes to the customer satisfaction in Coimbatore City, Tamil nadu. Retail Service quality can be measured with standard of the quality provided by a retail store in the key areas like Physical aspect, Reliability, Personal Interaction, Problem Solving and Policy aspects, and they were analyzed through feedback from the respondents of the active retail shoppers. The major objective of the research was to find the influencing retail service quality factor on customer satisfaction and to identify the value of influence with respect to customer satisfaction. This research was successfully completed and the factors influencing the customer satisfaction of the respondents were analyzed. This shows that, the retail stores are in growth stage and they are striving hard to satisfy the customer needs and requirements. This only depends on how well the retailers look into the influencing factors and take action plans to fulfill them so as to satisfy the customers’ needs and demands.