Apple offers in-store and online services in order to ensure good customer service and satisfaction, the first being the genius bar. The genius bar is a tech support station located inside the Apple stores with the pure purpose of providing support and advice for customers. This service can help the business reach customer expectations as this service offers support and help for those customers who are experiencing problems with their devices or might be unsure on how to use them. By offering this support, consumers are assisted with help, increasing customer satisfaction. On top of this, consumers are sometimes able to walk into the store and receive a genius bar appointment straightaway without the need of booking, further adding to the good customer service as it means that consumers don't have to wait around and can be served straightaway further increasing satisfaction. As well as this service in-store, Apple also offers customer service support online. Customers are able to phone up and receive support, help and advice over the phone. This service helps the business reach customer expectations as it caters to those customers who might not be able to travel into the store to receive help but can rather call from the comfort of their own home. By having this service, customers feel as if their needs are being met as employees can help with any problems or queries that the consumer may have, subsequently, increasing customer satisfaction. Finally, another thing in which Apple does to ensure good customer service is by building relationships with customers through their employees. Apple ensures that all employees have product knowledge and can assist in answering any questions or queries. When walking into the store an employee is normally assigned to a consumer who can then help them throughout the process of buying. This service allows the business to reach customer expectations as the customer's needs are attended to as well as having the full focus of the employee. This helps the business build relationships with the consumers as employees ensure that the consumer has a pleasant experience when shopping, increasing their customer satisfaction as well as the chance of the consumer repeat buying.
Primark offers several services in-store in order to ensure good customer service and satisfaction, the first being customer service desks around the store. In all 370 Primark stores, the business ensures that there is a customer service desk to help and assist customers with returns, queries or complaints. This service can help the business reach customer expectations as this facility compensates for any problems that the customers may be having, as by going to the customer service desk their problems can be attended to. This increases customer satisfaction as the consumers will feel that their needs are being catered for. As well as having this service in-store, Primark have a customer service line online to help those customers who may not be able to travel back into the store to get help for the issues that they may be experiencing. This increases customer satisfaction, as it saves some consumers the trip of having to travel back into one of their stores but can rather resolve the issue from over the phone. Another example of good customer service is that Primark ensures that there are employees on the shop floor to assist any customers. This can help the business reach customer expectation levels as by having employees on the shop floor, customers are able to talk to them if they need assistance or if they have any questions or need help. By having the availability of the employees, customer satisfaction will increase, as without them, consumers may feel agitated or annoyed if they were to have to seek out assistance if there were no employees on the shop floor. One thing that Primark could do in order to improve their customer service is by offering their service online. Although the company offers an online customer service line, Primark only offers an in-store service, meaning consumers can only purchase the company's products from inside one of their stores. This could be seen as a massive disadvantage for the company as they are excluding a large demographic of customers. By offering an online service, it will help the business reach customer expectation levels as this new service will be useful for those who can't travel to the store or for those who prefer to shop online. This will not only increase sales for the business but additionally improve customer satisfaction.
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Tesco
Tesco is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer. It is the third largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenue. It has stores in seven countries across Asia and Europe and is the market leader of groceries in the UK, Ireland, Hungary and Thailand. Tesco was founded in 1919 as a group of market stalls; from there the first Tesco shop was opened in 1931 where the business then expanded rapidly. Tesco aims to provide consumers with products at a great value. They believe that as a business, serving customers is at that heart of everything they do. Tesco states that 'In the UK, we serve 66 shoppers every second, so it's our goal to ensure every one of those customers experiences just a little better service on each visit'.Tesco offers several facilities in-store and online in order to ensure good customer service and satisfaction, the first being offering 24-hour service. This means that Tesco is catering their business to a wide range of consumers as with 24-hour service, consumers can have access to the business whenever they want during the day. This is good customer service as it increases customer satisfaction. The service of being open 24 hours a day can help the business meet customer expectation levels as consumers will be able to reach the business whenever they want as well as catering for if any emergencies were to arise. Another example of good customer service is how Tesco has clear signing around the store. This allows consumers to be able to read and understand the signing clearly, helping them to travel around the store very easily; this increases customer satisfaction. This service helps the business reach customer expectations as the business is doing the best that they can in order to make the activity of a weekly shop for example, as easy as possible for customers. This means that consumers don't have to go out of their way to ask employees where items may be as the signing clearly indicates where they need to go.
Another example of good customer service is that Tesco has a customer service desk towards the front of the store. This allows customers to make any complaints or queries that they may have and can allow them to return goods. By having this desk, it meets the needs of the consumer. As well as having a customer service desk in-store, Tesco offers a customer service line online which caters to their consumers which may only have home deliveries or who may not necessarily be able to travel into store. These service helps the business reach customer expectations as it allows consumers to be able to give complaints about the company that they may have experienced or be able to receive help for any problems they are experiencing. This increases customer satisfaction as the consumers will feel that their needs are being met and catered for. Finally, another way in which Tesco provides good customer service is through the facilities and services that the company provides their consumers with. These services include; access to car parks, toilets and lifts as well as their own coffee shop. These services can help Tesco reach customer expectations as they help facilitate consumer needs and offer support to those customers that may need it. For example, for those customers who may have a disability or who are limited to using a wheelchair, then the access to the lift will help the consumer go around their daily or weekly shopping much easier. As well as this the carpark and selected disabled bays will allow these consumers to enter and get to the shop much easier, overall making the experience more pleasant. This increases customer service and satisfaction as consumers will feel catered to and cared about.
How Legislation Affects Customer Service for Tesco
Legislation and regulations impact any business massively and can affect customer service. One example of this being the Sale of Goods Act. This act states that goods must determine a level of satisfactory quality for the price that the consumer is willing to pay and meet the description and relevant factors at the time of the purchase. Tesco can adhere to this legislation and improve their customer service by making sure all the descriptions of their products are accurate and useful in order to make buying easier for the consumer. As well as this, by pricing their products at a good value for their quality, the company is abiding by legislation and improving customer satisfaction and service due to its good value products. If this legislation is not met, it can impact the business massively, for example, if a product is given an inaccurate description, the customer may feel as if they have been a part of fraud. If this is to an extreme level, then the customer could sue the business resulting in legal trouble for the company. Therefore, by abiding by this legislation, customer service is impacted positively as consumers are provided with accurate descriptions and prices, making buying easier, and increasing customer satisfaction.
Another legislation that will affect Tesco is the Consumer Rights Act. Under the Consumer Rights Act you have a legal right to reject goods that are of an unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, and get a full refund within 30 days. Tesco adheres to this legislation through their use of customer service desks. These allow consumers to bring back goods that they deem to be faulty or that they are unhappy with. This improves customer service as consumers can get a full refund for the unwanted products or they can be exchanged to a different product or products, increasing customer satisfaction. If Tesco didn't offer this service, it would be considered poor customer service as they aren't considering the consumer's wants or needs but instead could be argued to be operating for their own financial gain as consumers won't be able to return products. Therefore, by offering the service of returns, Tesco is meeting the needs of customers.
Furthermore, another regulation in which Tesco must abide by is the Consumer Contracts regulations. These regulations are the rules that apply if you are buying products or services from suppliers without face-to-face contact, and where the consumer has not had an opportunity to examine the goods before buying or discussing the service in person. These regulations were previously known as the Distance Selling Regulations but they were replaced in 2014. These rules apply to Tesco due to their online shopping service. These regulations mean that the trader has to provide the consumer with information surrounding the total price of goods, delivery charges and other costs, details of the right to cancel, contact details of the seller, written confirmation after purchasing the goods and information about refunds on items if they aren't delivered on the agreed date. Tesco ensures that these regulations are met on their online shopping service. These regulations affect customer service positively as if these are met then customer service is improved due to the fact it makes the process of online shopping much easier and safer for the consumer. Through these services, the customer feels as if their wants and needs are being met and acquired for.
Moreover, another regulation in that Tesco must abide by is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. These are rules that protect consumers from misleading information and advertisements that companies may put out. These regulations protect consumers from unfair or misleading trading practices and ban misleading omissions and aggressive sales tactics. It follows from this that there is a duty to trade fairly and honestly with consumers. Tesco ensures that these regulations are met by putting out faithful and honest advertisements and descriptions of their products and services to ensure that everything they put out is truthful and not misleading to any consumers. These regulations affect customer service positively as if Tesco meets these regulations then the company will have an improved and stronger relationship with their customers, as consumers will think of the business in a better light due to the honest and truthful information that the company is putting forward. An improvement in the relationship between consumers and the business is essential and will overall, increase the level of customer service and satisfaction.
Finally, the last rules and regulations in which Tesco must follow are the new COVID-19 rules and guidelines set out by the government. In this current climate, businesses will now need to follow new guidelines that they never would have thought of putting in place a few years ago. These unprecedented times have changed business activity and procedures in shops massively, including Tesco. Tesco has been abiding by these government guidelines by putting a range of PPE equipment in their stores such as perplex screens at tills and by separating self-scan tills, as well as enforcing staff to remain safe by wearing masks. As well as this, the company have enforced 2m social distancing stickers at tills, to encourage consumers to stand a safe distance apart when queuing for any service at a till. Additionally, due to government guidance, Tesco has increased their level of the contactless payment limit up to £45 from £30 to help consumers avoid the use of chip and pin machines. By following these government guidelines and rules, customer service is affected positively as consumers will be more likely to feel safe when shopping in the store, as well as feel satisfied with the procedures that the company is putting into place in order to protect their customers as well as their employees. This increase in customer service will strengthen the relationship that Tesco has with their consumers and their employees, increasing their satisfaction.
Ways in which Tesco can Improve and Monitor their Customer Service
Customer service is very important as satisfied customers increase the likelihood of repeat customers and business. With this being said, it is important for businesses to constantly improve and refine their customer service and the techniques that they use. One way in which Tesco could improve their customer service is by monitoring and collecting customer feedback. This could be done in two ways, one online and one in-store. The online service could include a small survey after the customer has completed their order, in order to gain information about how they found shopping online and things in which the company could do to improve. Customer feedback might be harder to gain in-store as consumers may not have enough time to give feedback or they might just not want to; however, it could be done by directing consumers to a website to give their feedback on the back of a receipt. This is done by many companies through the enticement of a potential reward. By collecting and monitoring customer feedback, the company can analyze what they need to improve on through consumer recommendations. The business can then improve its services and methods through the customer's advice which will boost their levels of good customer service as the buying process will be easier and more comfortable for customers, increasing their satisfaction.
Another way in which Tesco could improve its customer service is by employing well-trained employees to deal specifically with customer service and complaints. This is important as by employing specific employees they are able to deal with any issues that may arise in a professional and skilled manner. The business will need to ensure that they hire people with the right skills: good communication, empathy, patience and product knowledge. It is essential that the employees carry these skills as it will strengthen their customer service performance. By having a skilled and efficient customer service team, customer service will improve as well as customer satisfaction, as the employees will ensure that consumer needs are met in a skilled and professional manner. By having these skills, the employees can guarantee that consumer complaints and queries are managed in the most effective way possible.
Furthermore, another way in which Tesco can improve its customer service is by improving checkout times. This is a problem for nearly every big supermarket chain due to the number of customers that travel through the store every day. Tesco can improve their checkout times by ensuring that there are enough tills open during peak shopping times to guarantee that consumers are served quickly and efficiently. By doing this, customer satisfaction and service will improve as consumers won't have to be waiting in long queues, decreasing the time spent on the shopping experience, subsequently, improving efficiency. This will make the whole process of shopping much easier and more enjoyable for the customer.
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