M. Gksel Akpinar et al.

An Assessment of Consumer Satisfaction

for Food Retail Chains: A Case Study from Turkey
M. Gksel Akpinar1, Mevlt Gul,2 and Sinem Gulcan1
1
Akdeniz University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics,
Antalya/TURKEY
2
Sleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural
Economics,Isparta,TURKEY
[email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected]
Abstract
Consumer oriented marketing concept appeared to be effective in accordance to the shift
from the traditional marketing approach to the modern marketing approach. This process
brings about the concept of customer value in retail food sector as it is the case in other
sectors. The rise in number and variety of shopping units that operate in the retail market
drives firms into value based marketing concept. Due to the positive effect on the
relationship between customer value and customer satisfaction, measuring customer
satisfaction in order to increase customer value in sector has gained importance.
This study is focuses on determination of satisfaction level of customers who make shopping
in local and national supermarket chains operating in retail food sector. In order to achieve
this, firstly the qualifications that constitute customer satisfaction conditions in supermarket
chains and satisfaction level of customers regarding those qualifications are determined. The
study was conducted in Antalya province of Turkey. The sample size was determined as 400
with 95 % confidence interval and 5 % margin of error. The data were collected from
consumers via face to face survey. In the study 30 basic qualifications affecting performance
of supermarket chains on customer satisfaction were enlisted under five main factors.
Customer satisfaction index of supermarket chains was found out to be 74, 9 %, which is 72,
8 % in local chains and higher with 77, 8 % in national chains. Findings reveal that local
supermarket chains focus on positioning strategy while national supermarket chains focus
on good/service strategies. However, the lowest satisfaction level criterion of customers in
food purchases in retail chains was found out to be related with after sales service process.
Keywords: Food Retailing, Supermarket, Consumer Satisfaction, Turkey
1 Introduction
With the phenomenon of globalization and the rapid technological development in the
world, important changes are taking place in the field of retailing. The marketing strategies
are turning into a new dimension with the intense competition in food retailing market
environment. The current which is called as new economy, makes an influence on the
enterprise behaviour to become customer centric. Establishing long term relationships with
customers and converting the relationships to their loyalty has become the key of
profitability with this new current. In this new approach, the relationship with the customer
is considered as the main axis. Customer relationship management (One to one marketing)
has become a tool for finding customers, converting them into loyal customers and
increasing the rate of profitability in this aggressive and competitive environment. In this
customer centric new economy, there is an approach that may effect their understanding of

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businesses, can be summarized as "The customer is the most appropriate business purpose,
win this customer, retain her/him and increase the customer profitability due to the increase
of your gain. (Helm, 2001; Ersoy, 2002).
Customer relationship management is a strategic trend which focuses on retention the
existing customers and development of relationships. Customers' buying behavior is based
on their perception of quality and satisfaction (Brown, 2000; Ersoy, 2002). As a result of
consumer awareness, the companies are moving away from the sell at any price to anyone
mentality; becoming tended to make the sale for ensuring consumer satisfaction. Consumer
satisfaction is based on various criterias as consumer-oriented attitude development,
integrated marketing efforts and creating profit-generating sales volume. As the concept of
human and speed factor has entered into marketing area that brought in a new concept of
customer value in our lives (Kak, 2002).
The concept of customer value creation is associated with the customer or consumer
satisfaction, and also with the management of sale points. Customer satisfaction is
considered to be the one of the most important criteria for providing a better business
performance and creating more value for the customer (Schneider et al., 1999, Raju et al.,
1995). The concept determined as customer value or creating value, is defined as the
wanted service or product qualifications, which are perceived by the customer. The values
usually include not only the existing values of the characteristics of products and services;
they include also the values that as a result of the use of products or services (Scneider et al.,
1999). The sentence said by Drucker, Missions and objectives of the enterprises are
creating customers and satisfying them and T. Levitts phrase The purpose of the
businesses are finding customers and make them loyal. emphasize the importance of the
concept of customer value creation (Odabasi, 2006). If the concept of customer loyalty is
considered by the terms of food retailing, successful business strategies will play a major
role in the sales points. The basis of successful business strategies is based on consumer
satisfaction.
Food retailing is defined as purchasing, pricing and making the consumer satisfaction
maximum by submitting these services to the consumers. According to this definition food
retailing has to provide the value of conformity, the value of product and business behavior
(Yurdakul and Ko, 1997). The management of point sales maintains a good business culture,
a good functional job analysis and also some features as a good choice of location, size, an
appropriate method of sale (self-service or staff services), a suitable product policy (width
and depth), brand policy (single or multi-brand) and consumer traffic. And also, placement
and rack system, labeling system, working hours, pricing policy and the difference in
competitors, price image, and sales promotion activities in the store and out of the store are
in these features. The entry level, auditing and security, showcase style, environment, decor,
lighting, perfume, music, proximity to the consumer, parking and traffic, air conditioning,
heating, attitude and the behavior of staff, the pace of service, store image, customer
culture are also located in these important features. On the other hand, the supply system,
purchasing standards and resources, an appropriate order and inventory system, logistics
support, burglary prevention system, cleaning, the attitude for returns and complaints are
important in retail management (Karabulut, 1998).
For the concept of consumer satisfaction in marketing literature, the approach which is
accepted in many of the studies is Olivers unapproved expectations model. The concept
of satisfaction is a perception of emotions about feeling happiness by the customer (Gk,
2006). Oliver described the consumer satisfaction as a result of using the product in the

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cognitive and emotional stages (Oliver, 1997). Studies on this topic emphasize that consumer
perceptions are not only a cognitive process of comparison; they are also consist from
consumer feelings (Mano et al., 1993; Oliver, 1993; Oliver et al., 1997).
Customer satisfaction can be considered as an output of the expectations and experiences
during the purchase. The aim is to provide the expectations of the customer as possible;
moreover provide the unexpected values too (Mittal and Kumar, 1999). If the customer
value is high, customer satisfaction is increasing according to it. If the desired results were
achieved after the use of the product, it means a positive value is given to the customer and
customer satisfaction will be high. Therefore, customer satisfaction should be measured for
increasing the value of the customer (Stahl et al., 1999) .
Some studies about food retailing are focused on the relationship between retail store
properties, customer satisfaction and store sales performance (Gomez et al., 2003). In
addition, customer satisfaction level were investigated by determining the degree of
importance on some supermarket features (Abubakar et al., 2001). The purchase place
atmosphere is more effective than the product on the buying decision, stated by Kotler
(1973). The weather, music, customer appreciation can affect the satisfaction about service
(Lovelock et al., 2001). The recent studies decide that the decision of the customer depends
on the percieved value (Belliveau et al., 2002). Today, consumers are meeting with lots of
products, brands and sale points. On these conditions, consumers purchase decision is
based on some kind of criterias and assessments (Uzunolu, 2007). Todays consumer
identity is developing to the new consumer , which is being informed on the effects of the
individuality, being active, speed, experience, wisdom, enthusiasm, emotionality (Menteth
et al., 2006).
The purpose of this study is to determine the qualifications which are perceived as
important by supermarket consumers and evaluate the consumer satisfaction on the
national and local supermarket basis in Turkey.

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M. Gksel Akpinar et al.

2 Material and Methods

The main material of the study was the data which is obtained directly from consumers. The
data of the research field was obtained from Turkey Statistical Insttute and the
Metropolitan Municipality. Also, national and international literature textbooks were used.
The study area includes the urban area of Antalya province. Antalya province hosts an
important potential for the retail sector due to being Turkeys agricultural and tourism
center with the intense internal and external immigration and rapidly growing urban area
population. Especially in the last five years, international retailers are positioned in Antalya
market and expansion strategy as well as local and national supermarket chains.

Figure1. The Research Area

In practice on marketing research, different sample sizes are used by assuming certain
confidence limits and a specific variance of the main mass for different sizes of the main
mass and tolerance levels. The calculated sample size was 384 for the 95% confidence
interval and 0.25 (0.50.5) variance in the conditions of having more than 500.000 main
mass (the population of Antalyas central district: 775.157) and when the main mass divided
into two groups (in this study the supermarket shoppers and who dont) (Collins, 1986;
Kurtulu, 1998). To achieve the volume of the sample, it was assumed that 50% of
consumers living in urban area of Antalya were supermarket consumers, the margin of error
was 0.05 and the confidence interval was 95%. In this direction, the enough sample size
was 384 for the survey research area.
The study sample size was tested for the rate of 5% (n/N 0.05)
Antalya city center = 384/775.157 = 0.000495 < 0.05
Accordingly, the value obtained as the deviation remained below 0.05. In the study the
sample size defined as 400, taking into account the possible number of incorrect
questionnaires. In the study, the survey method has been used as a method of collecting
data and information. As a data and information collection tool, the personal interview (face
to face interview) technique was employed.
Two assumptions were used during the measuring of the level of consumer satisfaction. The
first assumption depends on symmetric impact of positive and negative qualities for
customer satisfaction. According to the second assumption, there is an asymmetrical impact
of positive and negative valued qualities on customer satisfaction. In this case, the impact of
the negative quality performance is assumed to be much more effective than the
performance of a positive nature quality on the performance of sale points (Mittal and
William, 1998; Mittal and Baldasare, 1996; zkan et al., 2006).

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One of the most common methods of measuring the consumer satisfaction is the
measurement of performance according to the qualifications. With this method, the degree
of satisfaction becomes a function depending on qualifications (Sinclair et al., 1995). In this
direction, the qualifications which were percieved as important in supermarket shopping
were questioned. The classification of important qualifications were made by the technique
of data intensification. Then, the evaluation of the performance in the consumer perception
was made for national and local supermarket chains in terms of these qualifications. The
consumer surveys used in the study for the measurement of consumer satisfaction. In the
question form which was developed in this direction, the consumer assessments about 30
satisfaction criteria were evaluated in 10 likert scale. Descriptive statistics were used in the
processing of consumer data. In addition, the factor analysis technique was employed which
is one of the multivariate analysis techniques.
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Sample Mass
A study about the role of demographic factors and satisfaction on creation of store loyalty,
the relationship between these factors was found important. It was found that there is a
positive relationship between loyalty and age. Besides, the income status wasnt a
determiner for the creation of loyalty. Also, female consumers were more loyal than male
consumers, the loyalty for to the closer shops was more than the loyalty for far stores (Anic
et al., 2006).
In this context, consumers' gender, age, education, marital status, occupation, income and
expenditure status were reflected. As can be seen in the survey characteristics presented in
Table 1, the 48,0 % of 400 subjects were male and the 52,0 % were female. While the 29,5 %
of the respondents were in 20-30 age group; 15,5% of those were over the age of 51. The
significant majority of subjects were in the range of 31- 50 ages.
In the distribution by level of education, one of every four subjects was in the low education
group; while the 33,1% were with a high degree of education. In addition, 40,6% of them
were graduated from high school. In the marital status assessment, the 74,5% of
respondents were married; 21,5% of them were single and 4,1% of them were divorced or
widowed. The avarage large of households was detected as 3,4 person for the sample mass.
The single household rate was 4,3% and the rate of households for 5 or more person were in
their houses. When the distribution of respondents given by professions, 21,6% of them
were in private sector, 12,3% of them were working in public sector. The rates of retired
person were 14,0%, housewiwes were 18,8%, self employed person were 18,1% and artisans
were 15,3% in the sample mass.
In the scale of income, the customers who have 500 TL monthly income, were creating the
lowest income group with 9,5%. The highest income group of customers who have 2000 TL
and over, was identified at the level of 14,0%. A significant majority of respondents were in
501-1500 TL income group. In the assessment of monthly spending amounts of consumer
families from supermarkets, the group was in the highest level with 201-300 TL. The second
majority defined the 101-200 TL spending segment with the rate of 29,1%. The households
which spend over 400 TL monthly, have had the rate of 12,0% . The level was 13,5% for
those whose spend up to 100 TL.

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Table 1. Some Demographic and Economic Indicators for the Consumer Mass Sample (n=400)

Variables
Gender
Age

Values
Female: 52,0 %
Male: 48,0 %
20-30 age: 29,5 % 31-40 age: 27,0 % 41-50 age: 28,0 %
51 and
over age: 15,5 %
Education
Primary School: %15,5
Secondary School: %10,8
High School:
%40,6
University: %29,3
Graduate:%3,8
Marital Status
Single: 21,5 %
Married: 74,5 %
Divorced-Widowed:
4,1 %
Profession
Goverment Employees: 12,3 %
Artisans: 15,3 %
Retired: 14,0 %
Private Sector Employees: 21,6 %
Self Employed: 18,1 %
Housewiwes: 18,8 %
Household Size 1 person: 4,3 %
2 people: 18,0 %
3-4 people: 64,9 %
5 person and over: 12,9 %
Average: 3,4
Income
<501: 9,5% 501-1000: 33,5% 1001-1500: 27,3% 1501-2000: 14,8%
(TL/month)
2000<: 14,0%
Expenditure*
<101: 13,5 %
101-200: 29,1%
201-300: 30,7%
31-400: 15,1%
(TL/month)
400<: 12,0%
*The monthly expenditure amount from supermarket chains (The exchange rate: 1Euro
=1,59TL)
3.2 Consumer Satisfaction Factors in Food Retail Shopping
Developing shopping habits in parallel with the development of society and consumer
expectations, has increased the interest in organized shopping centers especially in the last
thirty years. Organized shopping malls have had an important place in our country within the
last twenty years. Besides a different retailing understanding, these malls have been offering
a combination of many different opportunities too. So it has created changes in consumer
expectations (Aktepe, 2008).
Consumer satisfaction is defined as the relationship between the percieved performance
and the consumers expectations from goods and services. This concept is a function of
consumer expectations. If the consumers experience about the product is higher than their
expectations, their satisfaction will be high; otherwise low (Schiffman et al., 2004).
In this regard, this study determines the features that are the consumers care about in
supermarket chains as retail food sales point.
In this context, the 30 features about supermarket chains were presented to the consumers
assessment. The factor analysis techniques were applied to the obtained results for
classification the features collected under the specific factors (Joseph et al., 1992; Ness.
2002). The number of important features was reduced to 23. These features were presented
in table 2. The other 7 features were not taken into consideration due to the lack sufficient
of relationship degree. The qualifications which were found important by supermarket
consumers were grouped under five factors. These factors explained the 59,90% of the total
variance.

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Table 2. Explanatory Factor Analysis

Qualifications
N1: Store Appearance
N2: Parking Facilities
N3: Store Size
N4: Store Atmosphere
N5: Store Cleanliness
N6: Product Display and Section Design
N7: Music
N8: Product Quality
N9: Product Diversity
N10: Brand Diversity
N11: Personnel Quality
N12: Personnel Communication
N13: Price Level
N14: Regularity and Consistency of Price Label
N15: Promotions and Price Discounts
N16: Duration of the Cash Process
N17: Packaging After Shopping
N18: Carrying the Products to the Vehicles
After Shopping
N19: Customer Services
N20: Exchange of the Defective Products
N21: To be Taken Seriously of Customer
Complaints and Questions
N22: Location and Transportation Facilities
N23: Proximity
Total Variance
KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin)

Factor1
0,726
0,636
0,797
0,784
0,678
0,677
0,509
0,642
0,720
0,665

Factor2

Factor3

Factor4

Factor5

0,690
0,702
0,709
0,537
0,620
0,527
0,772
0,868
0,733
0,773
0,731

23,335
0,897

40,422

47,226

53,668

0,833
0,851
59,898

3.3 Consumer Satisfaction Measurement in Food Retail Chains

The second section of the study is for the determination of consumers satisfaction level
which are shopping from the supermarket chains. In this respect, the consumer satisfaction
scores about the qualifications identified by factor analysis. The satisfaction scores have
been obtained by grading in overall for each qualification. Then, reached the satisfaction
index for supermarket customers by summation of the satisfaction coefficients. The table 3
shows the satisfaction index for the consumers which prefer supermarket chains for food
shopping. Here, the weighted satisfaction level for consumers was calculated as 7,49 out of
10 and the overall satisfaction index was found as 74,9%. This number reflects the
satisfaction level of consumers supermarket shopping.
The lowest level of consumer satisfaction is concentrated in factor 4. Through these
qualifications, carrying the products to the vehicles after shopping, packaging after
shopping, customer service qualifications are deficient. The second lowest satisfaction level
was associated with the qualification of factor 3. Supermarkets have failed to show adequate
performance on the general price level and the waiting period in front of the cash. However
these qualities are the effectiveness qualities for creating customer value and retention of
existing customers. When the data in table 3 were analyzed, that appears the highest level
of consumer satisfaction was associated with qualifications of the factor 5. Accordingly,
supermarkets provide the highest performance by accessing to the consumers in
supermarkets.

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Table 3. The Consumer Satisfaction Index in Supermarket Chains

Qualifications
Customer Satisfaction Conditions
Factor 1
N1: Store Appearance
N2: Parking Facilities
N3: Store Size
N4: Store Atmosphere
N5: Store Cleanliness
N6: Product Display and Section Design
N7: Music
N8: Product Quality
N9: Product Diversity
N10: Brand Diversity
Factor 2
N11: Personnel Quality
N12: Personnel Communication
Factor 3
N13: Price Level
N14: Regularity and Consistency of Price
Label
N15: Promotions and Price Discounts
N16: Duration of the Cash Process
Factor 4
N17: Packaging After Shopping
N18: Carrying the Products to the Vehicles
After Shopping
N19: Customer Services
N20: Exchange of the Defective Products
N21: To be Taken Seriously of Customer
Complaints and Questions
Factor 5
N22: Location and Transportation Facilities
N23: Proximity
Total
Satisfaction Index (%)

Satisfaction
Score
7,9
8,2
7,0
7,8
8,0
8,3
8,2
6,2
8,3
8,4
8,1
7,6
7,7
7,4
7,1
6,8
7,5

Weight
Multiplier
0,047
0,049
0,042
0,047
0,048
0,050
0,049
0,037
0,049
0,050
0,048
0,045
0,046
0,044
0,042
0,040
0,045

Satisfaction
Coefficient
0,372
0,406
0,296
0,368
0,386
0,411
0,404
0,229
0,408
0,424
0,389
0,340
0,350
0,330
0,301
0,273
0,339

7,6
6,4
5,7
4,8
3,6

0,046
0,038
0,034
0,028
0,022

0,349
0,241
0,209
0,136
0,079

4,8
7,7
7,5

0,028
0,046
0,045

0,135
0,358
0,337

8,4
8,4
8,4
167,1

0,050
0,050
0,050

0,421
0,418
0,424
7,491
74,9

*The consumer assessment by the likert scale (10) for 3 national and 3 local chains with the largest
total market share as 82,0%.

In the study by Abubakar et al. (2001), especially the geniality of the staff and the personnel
quality was found to be important for providing customer satisfaction. Also in Krueckbergs
study (1990), the helpfulness was found very important on the effect of store staff in
providing customer satisfaction.
When the national and local supermarket chains are examined in terms of consumer
satisfaction index, the consumer satisfaction index of national supermarket chains was found
as 77.4% and local supermarket chains index was 72,8%. In terms of general satisfaction
index this is understood that the national supermarket chains have created higher consumer
satisfaction. However, there can be seen the qualifications which were superior than each
other in the comparison on the basis of qualifications.
With the assessment, satisfaction levels were found higher in national chains especially for
the conditions in the factor 4. Packaging after shopping, carrying the products to the vehicles
after shopping, customer service and exchange of defective products were these conditions.

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As seen on the satisfaction coefficients, national supermarket chains have advantages which
are the product- brand portfolio, retailing concept, store atmosphere and physical store
characteristics. On the other hand there was not observed a significant difference between
national and local chains for pricing and personnel quality in the perception of consumer
satisfaction.
Table 4. The Consumer Satisfaction Index in National Supermarket Chains
Qualifications
Customer Satisfaction Conditions
Factor 1
N1: Store Appearance
N2: Parking Facilities
N3: Store Size
N4: Store Atmosphere
N5: Store Cleanliness
N6: Product Display and Section Design
N7: Music
N8: Product Quality
N9: Product Diversity
N10: Brand Diversity
Factor 2
N11: Personnel Quality
N12: Personnel Communication
Factor 3
N13: Price Level
N14: Regularity and Consistency of Price
Label
N15: Promotions and Price Discounts
N16: Duration of the Cash Process
Factor 4
N17: Packaging After Shopping
N18: Carrying the Products to the Vehicles
After Shopping
N19: Customer Services
N20: Exchange of the Defective Products
N21: To be Taken Seriously of Customer
Complaints and Questions
Factor 5
N22: Location and Transportation Facilities
N23: Proximity
Total
Satisfaction Index (%)

Satisfaction
Score
8,3
8,5
8,2
8,4
8,5
8,4
8,4
6,3
8,6
8,8
8,5
7,6
7,8
7,4
7,1
6,8
7,9

Weight
Multiplier
0,048
0,049
0,047
0,049
0,049
0,049
0,049
0,037
0,050
0,051
0,050
0,044
0,045
0,043
0,041
0,039
0,046

Satisfaction
Coefficient
0,401
0,422
0,387
0,408
0,420
0,413
0,412
0,231
0,424
0,457
0,432
0,335
0,351
0,318
0,297
0,266
0,363

7,7
6,1
5,9
4,9
3,7

0,045
0,035
0,034
0,028
0,021

0,344
0,216
0,218
0,139
0,078

5,7
8,0
7,4

0,033
0,046
0,043

0,186
0,372
0,316

8,3
8,3
8,2
172,6

0,048
0,048
0,047

0,392
0,396
0,387
7,735
77,4

National Chains: 1.A, 2.B, 3.C (Market Shares: 34,1%)

The research findings support that the local supermarket chains are providing higher access
to consumers. The local chains compose high penetration by small- scale retail store
concept. As a result of the condensation in number of local store chains, there was a high
index for local chains in terms of location and proximity criterias as the factor 5s
qualifications. Accordingly, the local supermarkets apply the strategy of becoming closer to
the consumer; the national chains apply the strategy of pulling the consumers to a center.

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M. Gksel Akpinar et al.

When the variations for the quality of national and local supermarket chains to satisfy the
consumer are evaluated in terms of sale point management, it is understood that the
national supermarket chains chose the consumers from all segments and give weight to
product variety due to their strong capitals. It can be said that local supermarket chains are
focusing to elect location for mass marketing or mass sales. This situation shows that local
supermarket chains are tended to ensure customer loyalty with high accessibility and easy
shopping opportunities. On the other hand, national supermarket chains choose ensuring
the customer loyalty by the diversity of product/service and quality. In other words, local
chains develop proximity strategies; national chains develop product-service based
strategies. In a study on customer satisfaction and loyalty as the success factors of food
retailing, quality product and service factors were described as the main determinant of
customer satisfaction. This explanation is consistent with this result (Spiller et al., 2006).
Table 5. The Consumer Satisfaction Index in Local Supermarket Chains
Qualifications
Customer Satisfaction Conditions
Factor 1
N1: Store Appearance
N2: Parking Facilities
N3: Store Size
N4: Store Atmosphere
N5: Store Cleanliness
N6: Product Display and Section Design
N7: Music
N8: Product Quality
N9: Product Diversity
N10: Brand Diversity
Factor 2
N11: Personnel Quality
N12: Personnel Communication
Factor 3
N13: Price Level
N14: Regularity and Consistency of Price
Label
N15: Promotions and Price Discounts
N16: Duration of the Cash Process
Factor 4
N17: Packaging After Shopping
N18: Carrying the Products to the Vehicles
After Shopping
N19: Customer Services
N20: Exchange of the Defective Products
N21: To be Taken Seriously of Customer
Complaints and Questions
Factor 5
N22: Location and Transportation Facilities
N23: Proximity
Total
Satisfaction Index (%)

Satisfaction
Score
7,4
7,9
5,9
7,3
7,6
8,1
8,0
6,0
8,0
8,0
7,5
7,5
7,5
7,4
7,0
6,7
7,1

Weight
Multiplier
0,046
0,049
0,036
0,045
0,047
0,050
0,049
0,037
0,049
0,049
0,046
0,047
0,047
0,046
0,044
0,042
0,044

Satisfaction
Coefficient
0,345
0,390
0,215
0,329
0,354
0,409
0,394
0,225
0,393
0,392
0,347
0,346
0,349
0,342
0,305
0,281
0,314

7,6
6,6
5,4
4,6
3,6

0,047
0,041
0,034
0,029
0,022

0,355
0,269
0,202
0,133
0,081

3,8
7,5
7,6

0,024
0,046
0,047

0,091
0,344
0,360

8,6
8,5
8,7
161,5

0,053
0,052
0,054

0,454
0,442
0,466
7,276
72,8

Local Chains: 1. A1, 2.B1, 3.C1 (Market Shares: 47,9%)

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4 Conclusion and Recommendations

As a result of economic and social developments, the worsening competition conditions in
food retailing sector has bought them to develop new and different strategies for being able
to fight against the competitors. This situation is forcing the retailers to radically transform
the way they provide customer loyalty and satisfaction. These radical transformations
include the concept of creation customer value, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and
consumer satisfaction. The main purpose of creating customer value in retailing is creating
the customer loyalty in favor of the brand by providing consumer satisfaction. Today, while
the quality and the services are a vehicle, creating value for the customer is becoming a
purpose. Therefore, providing differences in perception and application will make an
important contribution for the development of consumer loyalty and satisfaction.
So in which direction should these differences and additional services be developed?
While the satisfaction index values are evaluated, we remember that the lowest values were
grouped as a factor 4. An application that can be recommended for packaging after sale
process is to speed up the process by a staff member or by a technical packaging system
over the long term. However, this situation could lead a negative response on the customers
which are packaging the products with categorizing by their own choices. In addition the
durability of the bags is expected by customers. Transporting the packages after the sale also
can be done by the auxiliary staff.
Today, the newly customer service applications can be better improved in local chains. Also
many customers would like to see more practical and quick application on changing the
defective product after sale. But sometimes, the cashiers leave the cash empty for a while,
the customers wait more and this causes trouble. The other factors which have usually
lowered customer satisfaction are not to be taken seriously enough for the complaints and
problems and the down faced supermarket workers. This approach should produce the
sensation of We are working for you. and being special for the business to the customers.
Another group with low satisfying coefficient was the factor 3. Here, the price level which is
one of the most sensitive issues is expected to be become more convenient. However, the
price labels would cause serious difficulties in terms of uniformity and consistency.
Supermarkets own cards could be given as an example for suitable price applications but it
is not enough and it is expected to create trouble in the long run. Some problems such as the
product under another products label, unregistered discounts and promotions in the cash
should be resolved. Some supermarket chains are trying to solve the length of processing
time problem with some applications as digital self- service cashes. This innovation should
be able to set an example for similar applications on national and local basis.
As a result of the research, national chains were seen more successful than local chains for
the external appearance of the store, the atmosphere, product display and section design.
The suggestion at this point could be hanging the guiding boards at the eye level in
supermarkets. Also, the width of departments could be more, not limited with the width of
the shopping basket. In addition, the change of department and product places could take
some customers time so the shopping process becomes exhausting for them. Moreover the
music in supermarkets which speeds up or slows down the shopping process, could be
differentiated on the basis of departments with an innovative perspective instead of
applying in the same way at each point of the supermarket. Fast music may be applied to the
departments which have the customer density for a long time.

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If this point is evaluated in terms of product fragrances, it will effect the consumer as
sensory and make the food products enviable. Just as the smell of various fruit flavors in the
fruit juice department.
Consequently, the local supermarket chains are focused on positioning strategies, the
national chains are focused on improving the product/service strategies in Antalya province.
100% level of consumer satisfaction is impossible for all the sectors. If this rate could be
provided, customer loyalty will be created. In this case, the deficiency of 75% customer
satisfaction level occurs. It can be expressed that the performances are better in national
chains.
In the study, the most neglected qualifications to ensure consumer satisfaction for both
national and local supermarket chains are seen as after-sales services. These qualifications
should be analysed in the perspective of customer relationship management. Providing long
term customer satisfaction and turning these advantages into loyalty depend on
understanding these qualifications well and developing logical solutions. Therefore the
components which are created by the customer satisfaction arent evaluated as
independent; they should be organized and evaluated in accordance with consumer
expectations. In addition, it should be followed by the international innovations because
consumers will notice the importance given to innovation and improvements of
supermarkets. Customer satisfaction and customer value can be created in the light of these
considerations, so these cases will increase the loyal customers to the chains by turning
them into customer satisfaction.
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