Service Quality and Relationship Quality in the Retail Sector

Abstract

Service quality has effects on customers' satisfaction and, in general, on the factors at the origin of competitive advantages. This justifies the special attention given to this topic by both academics and operators. This article presents first a theoretical framework of the above-mentioned topic and then the results of an empirical survey conducted within the chain IperSoap. This work has required us to define an "ad hoc" model of analysis for service quality. The model starts from existing ones and takes into account the specific characteristics of the sector. The results obtained have allowed the business management to identify the service problems and to undertake actions to solve them. These results have been achieved thanks to the choice of specific "items" and service categories that have allowed us to go into the details of the supply problems. In the final section, the principal managerial implications and possible developments in research are discussed.