21.11.2005

• In Euromarket, the best improvement. 

• Lidl is different.

• K-rauta is doing better in Sweden.

• Women like Rautia.

• Rimi, the best in Estonia.

These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning hardware and building materials (or Do-It-Yourself or DIY stores) and supermarket chains in Finland. The same study was also done in other Nordic and Baltic countries.

In the study, for example, company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money, customer satisfaction and loyalty were measured.

Results concerning private customers' satisfaction with their hardware and building materials (DIY) stores are below.

The most satisfied private customers are in small chains with an index of 71,9. Within that group, for example, Carlson, Terra, and also Bauhaus receive good scores.

Among bigger chains, Agrimarket and Starkki receive best scores. Agrimarket has different focus and acts also heavily in the agricultural and machinery trade.

At the bottom of the table for customer satisfaction, are K-rauta (67,8) and Rautia (67,3). The difference between them is not statistically significant.

When the reasons for the differences in customer satisfaction between chains are inspected, it can be seen that the differences in product assortment and product quality are not significant. However, in customer service and value for money, the differences among chains are clear.

Differences in service quality among small chains are also large. Carlson and Terra receive good scores but, for example, Bauhaus not so good scores. Among bigger chains, K-rauta is given lower scores than other companies for its service quality.

Concerning pricing issues, Agrimarket and Starkki receive best scores among big chains, and K-rauta and Rautia lower scores. The variance in customers' opinions on pricing is the largest among Rautia's customers.

Women like Rautia

There are significant differences between men and women in their satisfaction with different hardware stores. In Rautia and also in Bauhaus and Terra, women are more satisfied customers than men. Women give Rautia a customer satisfaction index of 70,4, and men only 66,0. In Agrimarket, men are more satisfied than women and in K-rauta and Starkki, women and men are equally satisfied.

 
K-rauta managed better in Sweden in customer satisfaction

The same study was also done in Sweden and Norway. K-rauta managed in Sweden better than in Finland. Among the Swedish hardware and building materials chains, K-rauta was the second in customer satisfaction. The best chain in Sweden was Beijer Bygg.

Small chains have the most loyal customers

Concerning customer loyalty and commitment, small hardware chains have the most loyal private customers, however differences among the small chains are significant. The customer loyalty indexes for different chains are presented below.

Among the big chains, Agrimarket has, according to this study, the most loyal private customers. K-rauta has the least committed customers, although the differences between the big chains are not large. The customer loyalty index for Agrimarket is 75,9 and for K-rauta 73,1.

 
Euromarket, best improvement

Results concerning hypermarket customers' satisfaction are below.

Among hypermarkets, the differences in customer satisfaction are not large. Prisma has the most satisfied customers in Finland with an index of 75,9. The second is Euromarket with an index of 74,7, and the third K-citymarket, with an index of 73,4.

The similar study was done also last year. Then the differences between chains were larger. Both Prisma and K-citymarket have loosed points in customer satisfaction from last year, while Euromarket managed to increase its customer satisfaction index. As a consequence, it passed K-citymarket and nearly reached Prisma.

Euromarkets success comes from service quality issues, where it receives the best scores. Product assortment and quality and pricing issues are still seen to be the best in Prisma by its customers. K-citymarket receives the lowest scores in product quality, service quality and pricing issues from its customers.

 
Euromarket is now number 1. in customer loyalty

From last year, Euromarket's customer loyalty index has increased considerably by 9,2 points! It is now 82,5. Prisma also has a good loyalty index 81,8, although its score has dropped from the last year by 2,2 points. K-citymarket's customer loyalty index has also dropped, by 3,5 index points.

Lidl is different

Between the major owners of the hypermarket and other store chains in Finland: Kesko, S-group, and Tradeka, there are no big differences between them in their overall customer satisfaction indexes. Kesko receives an index of 74,4, S-group 74,3, Tradeka 73,0 and other major chains together 74,1. Lidl instead is different, it receives a customer satisfaction index of 51,2. With Lidl, it has to be noted that also the variance of its scores is large. One portion of its customers is satisfied, the other is not.

In Estonia, Rimi the best

The same study concerning supermarket chains, was done also in other Nordic and Baltic countries.

In Sweden, the best scores were given to ICA -company, whose shops are mainly run but private shop keepers as in Kesko. In Norway the best company was the cooperative Coop.

Rimi, which is jointly owned by Kesko and ICA, received the best score in Estonia and Latvia. In Lithuania, the best scores were given to VP Market -chain.

 
The EPSI Rating study

The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. The respondents were asked to evaluate the hardware or supermarket store they primarily use. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate in the study. For each major chain, 250 respondents were interviewed.

This research is part of European Customer Satisfaction Research, EPSI Rating. It is coordinated by the Institutet för Kvalitetsutveckling and the Stockholm School of Economics.

European quality organizations the European Foundation for Quality Management and the European Organisation for Quality are backing the research, along with the International Foundation for Customer Focus. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.

In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1989, and there the study already covers a major portion of the national economy. In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy.

Earlier this year, results from banking, telecom, and insurance companies have been released. In a few weeks, the results from electricity companies will be released.  For more information, and press material also in Finnish, see the EPSI Finland web-site: www.epsi-finland.org.

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