Exploring the UK high street retail experience: is the service encounter still valued?

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between service quality, the service encounter and the retail experience within a changing UK retail environment.

Data were gathered from 40 customers and 20 staff of an established UK health and beauty retailer with a long-standing reputation for personal customer service. A qualitative analysis was applied using both a service quality and a customer value template.

Customers focused more on the utilitarian features of the service experience and less on “extraordinary” aspects, but service staff still perceived that the customer encounter remained a key requisite for successful service delivery.

Recent environmental developments – involving customers, markets and retail platform structure – are challenging traditional service expectations.

Retailers may need to reassess the role of the service encounter as part of their on-going value proposition.

Limited research to date on the perception of shoppers to the service encounter in a changing retail environment and to the evolving notions of effort and convenience.