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aggravations of shopping © Corbis

Extra1/18/2008 11:08 AM ET

'Not my department' costs stores dearly

Half of all shoppers encounter 'multiple problems' on typical visits to stores, according to researchers, who found that nothing aggravates like shoddy customer service. 

By The Associated Press

A salesperson with a bad attitude, or one who is not around, may drive shoppers away and ultimately hurt a company's revenue, according to a survey presented this week.

Encountering problems while shopping is extremely common -- on average half of shoppers polled encounter multiple problems on any given shopping trip, said Paula Courtney, president of The Verde Group, the Toronto market-research company that presented the study.

Younger shoppers and women over age 40 are the most likely to have problems in stores, the survey found.

Problems at brick-and-mortar stores can lead to a significant decline in a customer's perception of a company, according to the survey of 2,200 U.S. and Canadian shoppers by The Verde Group and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative.

While store-based problems such as parking can present an annoyance, "the problems that matter most and degrade loyalty the most are with salespeople," said Courtney.

Common issues with salespeople include having a "that's not my department" attitude or not being around at all, being too aggressive and being insensitive to long checkout lines.

Connected to the brand

On the other hand, if salespeople seem authentic and knowledgeable about the products they are selling, they can create an experience that consumers will remember and make it more likely they will return to the store, Courtney said.

James Parker, a former chief executive of Southwest Airlines (LUV, news, msgs) and a panelist at the presentation of the study, said it's necessary to invest in employees in order to engender a positive attitude.

For example, he said, when he was CEO at Southwest he invested a higher percentage of net revenue into employee compensation than any other airline, and hired only 2% of prospective employees, to find dedicated staffers who felt connected to the brand.

This led to the brand being known for its customer service, he said.

The article was reported and written by Mae Anderson for The Associated Press.

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