In an average four-week period, one in four Australians aged 14+ makes a purchase from a clothing store.
That’s more than 4.7 million people: but how many of them are satisfied with their shopping experience?
Every shopper knows that service standards can vary dramatically between retailers, but only the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction awards reveals how this impacts on customer satisfaction levels.
With an impressive customer satisfaction rating of 92%, kidswear chain Pumpkin Patch took out Clothing Store of the Month for February, inching out last year’s overall category winner, Suzanne Grae (91%). In third place was Jacqui E, satisfying nearly 91% of its customers.
These were the only three of the 21 retail chains measured for the Clothing Store category which satisfied more than 90% of their customers in February. Eleven of the remaining 18 retailers scored in the high-80s; while the lowest-rating store satisfied only 74% of its customers.
Customer satisfaction: highest rating clothing, shoe and sport stores, February 2015
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), March 2014 – February 2015 (n=15,990). Base: Australians 14+ who shopped at a clothing store, shoe store or sport store in the last 4 weeks
Shopping for shoes and sporting goods
February saw a close call between Athlete’s Foot (87%) and 2014’s Shoe Store of the Year Betts/Betts Kids (86%). Both achieved their high scores primarily thanks to exceptional satisfaction ratings among their female customers: 93% in both cases.
When it comes to sport stores, Rebel Sport came out on top with a score of just over 85%; a fraction ahead of 2014 title-holder Sports Power at slightly under 85%. While male customers outnumber women at all three sport store chains measured for the Customer Satisfaction Awards, the satisfaction ratings in this category tend to be higher among women.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“The first couple of months of 2015 have been quite eventful for Roy Morgan’s Customer Satisfaction Awards, with new leaders for several categories. Clothing, shoe and sport stores are three examples, with Pumpkin Patch, Athlete’s Foot and Rebel Sport all distinguishing themselves in a very competitive field.
“The close results for each category are a timely reminder for retailers that nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to customer satisfaction: there’s always a competitor waiting in the wings, plotting how to woo your customers away with their fabulous service!
“This month’s winners (and place-getters) clearly understand this, and their high satisfaction ratings indicate that their customers have noticed.”