Effect of Customer Service on Customer Shopping Experience at Sainsbury Barkingside London

This research analyzes the effect of customer service on customer shopping experience at Sainsbury Barkingside London. It examines the relationship between customer service and customer shopping decisions, and provides recommendations for improvement.

Inquiry Based
Learning
(Research Project)

Table of Content
RESEARCH TITLE: ANALYSES THE EFFECT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE ON
CUSTOMER SHOPPING EXPERIENCE AT SAINSBURY BARKINGSIDE LONDON..........3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Aim of research......................................................................................................................3
Research Questions................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................5
Qualitative Research...............................................................................................................5
Quantitative Research.............................................................................................................5
Primary data............................................................................................................................6
Secondary data........................................................................................................................6
RESULTS / DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................6
Frequency Data Analysis........................................................................................................6
Interview Answers................................................................................................................10
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................13
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire.................................................................................................13
Appendix 2 – Interview Questions.......................................................................................13

RESEARCH TITLE: ANALYSES THE EFFECT OF CUSTOMER
SERVICE ON CUSTOMER SHOPPING EXPERIENCE AT
SAINSBURY BARKINGSIDE LONDON.
INTRODUCTION
Customer service was defined as a communication or an interaction that takes place
between the buyers of the product and the companies. In the modern environment of business the
definition of customer service and other duties of the department have upgraded (Batheja, 2020).
Now customer service is known to be a very important aspect for success of a business and
ensure earning brand loyalty. Retail is a huge industry contributing a significantly to the
economy of the United Kingdom. Customer service is a very significant and dominant part of
retail sector which certainly put influence over future decisions of customers and their shopping
through the brand.
Aim of research
“The aim of this research is to find out the influence of customer service on customer
shopping at Sainsbury Barkingside London.”
Research Questions
 What are the effects of customer service over customer shopping at Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London?
 What is the relationship between customer service and customer shopping at performance
of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
Research Objectives
 To examine the effect of customer service over customer shopping at Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London.
 To determine the relationship between customer service and customer shopping at
performance of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The retail sector has always be independent upon sales taking place in the market of
different companies. The lifeblood of a retail business organisation have always been the
revenues it earns through sales. The major factor which has significant influence over the sales of

a respective retail organisation is the customer service. In views of (Moorthy and et. al., 2018),
Every customer is important for a retail organisation and customer service is one key component
that turns the casual customers all purchases into the loyal buyer’s bringing revenue and profits
towards the entity. There are number of customer service practices that contributes in providing a
best experience to the purchaser and making them potential future buyer of the brand. Some of
the examples of these practices are trained sales person, responsive communication, effective use
of Technology, showing empathy for customers needs and providing personalized experiences.
(Kaipainen, Ahtinen and Hiltunen, 2018), Customer refers to providing seamless
experiences to the people by showcasing them that the company is not just only care about the
sales but also concerns about the satisfaction of their buyers which they seem to provide through
their offerings. Customer service is a simple option which refers to providing support to the
people who had brought sales to the company. Everybody is important for organisations and
when they require support either before or after the sales they want it to be easily receivable
without any hassle and within efficient manner.
According to the views of Bemporat. T. (2018), a customer buying journey is a very long
process and it is no longer simple like visiting a store and buying a respective commodity.
Maximum customers use separate channels and actually multiple channels during the shopping
journey to buy one particular product. People have easy access to information and for doing so
before making shopping decisions buyers always look over their options and make a
comparisons buy the best product for satisfying their needs. Customer service and customer
shopping are both interlinked with each other and dependent as well.
As per the opinion of Tsernove. K. (2021), retail deal with both products and services and
these are two tangible and intangible offerings, where consumers or buyer consumes the product
but experience the service. The role of customer service seems very important in changing
customers future buying decision in favour of the brand. Customer service is a key factor which
attracts respective purchase towards a respective organisation for making further purchase and to
satisfy their needs. Clearly indicates that customer service and customer shopping are dependent
variables as when a buyer receives appropriate service on all stages of the decision making
process for shopping the company automatically becomes a prior option for buyers in future
changing a random purchaser into a potential long-term customer off the brand.

Hence it is critically and distinctively evident that buying decision of a buyer has certain
influence imposed by the services be received or will be receiving at the time of their shopping
journey. It easily concludes the fact that both the factors are dependent and customers are highly
e in client towards receiving a potential customer service at the time of purchase and even after
making the purchase which keeps them loyal towards the brand and changing their shopping
decision in favour of the respective retail brand.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology simply refers to the practical approaches a researcher takes upon
how to conduct a study on a given piece of research topic. It is very important for a researcher to
adopt a systematic design of study to ensure valid and reliable results can be attained addressing
the aims and objectives of the research and research methodology enable them to do so
(Ørngreen and Levinsen, 2017).
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is a procedure used by investigator and supports and in-depth
understanding and analysis of a respective situation or the topic which is being investigated. the
qualitative research most commonly is used by the researcher together ample amount of actual
data from different resources and participants. But due to its nature of in depth analysis and lack
of time the participants involved in this form of research are very low in number. There are
different methods of conducting qualitative research such as document analysis which is also
known as literature review, participant observations and interviews. In regards to this study
literature review and interview are the chosen tools for collecting data. An explanatory interview
of two of the customer service managers of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London is conducted with
the time duration of 10 minutes.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research and data is easier in comparison to qualitative research.
Quantitative information it is simple to collect and analyse because it is dependant on a larger
sample of participants. This is a research method that is entirely dependent upon numerical
information which can be objectively measured. Therefore, this is a common methodology used
by several researchers for making quick collection of data by using different software. A very
common method of quantitative data is used in the project that is conducting survey through

questionnaire. The survey is conducted based on the sample size of 20 employees of Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London (Attia and Edge, 2017).
Primary data
A Primary data is defined as the information which is originally developed and identified
by the investigator while doing the research on the particular topic. There are several common
methods of collecting primary information and for respective research project face to face
interviews, questionnaire survey and observation are the three sources through which it is
collected (Bairagi and Munot, 2019).
Secondary data
The next common type of data collection picnic investigators use is secondary data which
is determined as the information that already exist in the market determined by different
researchers or experts. For the particular research project the investigator have made use of
different journals, textbooks newspaper articles and online sources for collecting secondary data
for backing up their conclusions with reliable sources (Bresler and Stake, 2017).
RESULTS / DISCUSSION
Frequency Data Analysis
Questions Frequencies
Q1. Do you understand the meaning of customer service and its
importance for retaining customers with the brand?
Frequency
a) Yes 19
b) No 01
Q2. Do you believe that customer service have certain impact over
customer shopping decisions and their loyalty to Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 05
Q3. Do you think that customer service and customer shopping
decisions are two dependent variables and are related to one another?
Frequency
a) Yes 17
b) No 03

Q4. According to you, customer shopping decision influenced by the
customer services provided by Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
Frequency
a) Yes 18
b) No 02
Question 1:
Q1. Do you understand the meaning of customer service and its
importance for retaining customers with the brand?
Frequency
a) Yes 19
b) No 01
19
1
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: As per the hypothesis and graphical representation of the results
collected through questionnaire it is determined that maximum respondents of the sample chosen
from the workforce of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London have appropriate understanding of the
notion of customer service and its importance for the brand. 19 respondents out of 20 agreed that
customer service is an important factor for the company and they have appropriate understanding
of it.
Question 2:
Q2. Do you believe that customer service have certain impact over Frequency

customer shopping decisions and their loyalty to Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London?
a) Yes 15
b) No 05
15
5
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: From the graph and the data collected it is interpreted that the workforce
of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London strongly believe that customer service is important factor in
customers decision making and also that brings loyalty of their purchases towards the entity. 15
out of 20 respondents replied in the favour of the question. On the other hand remaining 5 of
respondents answered against it stating that they do not believe that customer decision making is
influenced through customer service they receive.
Question 3:
Q3. Do you think that customer service and customer shopping
decisions are two dependent variables and are related to one another?
Frequency
a) Yes 17
b) No 03

17
3
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: The graph above represents and interpret that maximum respondents
from the sample size are favour of the notion sexy that both customer service and customer
decision-making that is customer shopping are two dependent variables. 17 out of 20 respondents
stated that yes the buyers who are making purchase from Sainsbury’s Barkingside London are
making purchasing decisions on the basis of services they are receiving and wish to receive from
the brand making both variables dependent. Three of the respondents replied otherwise.
Question 4:
Q4. According to you, customer shopping decision influenced by the
customer services provided by Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
Frequency
a) Yes 18
b) No 02

18
2
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: The graph clearly states that hidden out of 20 respondents have the belief
that the buying decisions of the buyers of Sainsbury’s Barkingside London are indeed influenced
by the services and specifically the customer service department of the company are providing to
them. Every customer requires satisfaction and easy purchase to be made with appropriate
support before and after sales. Hence the company is providing the same to the buyer’s and it is
reflecting upon their sales and over the loyalty they have gained in the market and amongst their
customer base. The other two respondents answered opposing stating that they do not believe
that the customers are influenced by the services they are receiving.
Interview Answers
Question 1: What are different customer service strategies and practices adopted by
Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
Respondent 1: The list of practice that are adopted by Sainsbury’s Barkingside London in
regards to customer services are:
 Listening to needs of customers
 Drafting customer service standards prior to planning
 Personalizing the relationship with them
Respondent 2: The practices which are adopted by our company for keeping the customers
happy and providing them appropriate services are:
 Managing data
 Providing prompt to supplies and solutions to customers problems

 Being accessible to them whenever they want
Question 2: What according to you as a manager of customer service department of
Sainsbury’s Barkingside London needs to be improved within the customer service
strategies of the organisation?
Respondent 1: In my opinion as working on the position of customer service manager of
Sainsbury’s Barkingside London the only recommendation which I think is important for
company to look over is of maintaining the focus over being more personalized with the people
and not acting like robots but actually focusing over their problems deeply.
Respondent 2: As per my view point as an ongoing customer relationship manager at
Sainsbury’s Barkingside London I believe that the brand needs to focus upon certain customer
touch points and also take up regular follow ups by loyalty customers in regards to there continue
shopping experience with our lovely brand.
RECOMMENDATION
From the above interpretations and personalize interviews conducted it is theory visible
that the people working in Sainsbury’s Barkingside London and focusing over delivering the best
services to buyers may seem to have certain improvements to be done in the customer service
strategies of the company. Hence the recommended practices for Sainsbury’s Barkingside
London is the brand need to focus upon becoming more personalized and critical when is it
comes to keeping there regular and potential buyers satisfied and happy. Both managers of
Sainsbury’s suggested that the company needs to become more focus and offer personalized
experiences to the buyers. The main reason behind the same is increasing competition in the
market as well as rapid growth taking place of online retail sector.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion to the Research and collected attributes it is determined and examined that
customer service and customer shopping or two important and interlinked components which are
holding severe implications and influence over the success of a brand in retail industry. From the
research by examining different literatures and collecting opinions of number of respondents it is
clearly identified that customer service plays a very important role in keeping the buyers
attracted and loyal to the company. Therefore, organisations also needs to be focused critical
why dealing with the potential buyers of the brand who brings continuous revenues.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Batheja, A., 2020. Customer Satisfaction, Trust & Re-Purchase for Online Shopping Behavior
for Consumers: An Empirical Investigation. Trust & Re-Purchase for Online Shopping
Behavior for Consumers: An Empirical Investigation (June 26, 2020).
Moorthy, K. and et. al., 2018. Corporate image no longer leads to customer satisfaction and
loyalty: a Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Law and Management.
Kaipainen, K., Ahtinen, A. and Hiltunen, A., 2018, October. Nice surprise, more present than a
machine: Experiences evoked by a social robot for guidance and edutainment at a city
service point. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Academic Mindtrek
Conference (pp. 163-171).
Heng, Y. and et. al., 2018. Exploring hidden factors behind online food shopping from Amazon
reviews: A topic mining approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 42,
pp.161-168.
Sharmila, R. and Kavitha, M., 2020. A Study on Customer Attitude and Shopping Intention
Towards Health Care Products. Indian Journal of Public Health Research &
Development, 11(2).
Ørngreen, R. and Levinsen, K., 2017. Workshops as a Research Methodology. Electronic
Journal of E-learning, 15(1), pp.70-81.
Attia, M. and Edge, J., 2017. Be (com) ing a reflexive researcher: a developmental approach to
research methodology. Open Review of Educational Research, 4(1), pp.33-45.
Bresler, L. and Stake, R. E., 2017. Qualitative research methodology in music education. Critical
essays in music education, pp.113-128.
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M. V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Online:
Retail Store's Customer Service, 2018. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.lightspeedhq.com/blog/how-to-level-up-your-retail-stores-customer-
service//>
How Retail Benefits From Amazing Customer Experience, 2020 [Online] Available through:
<https://www.qminder.com/customer-experience-benefits-retail//>

APPENDICES
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Do you understand the meaning of customer service and its importance for retaining
customers with the brand?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2. Do you believe that customer service have certain impact over customer shopping
decisions and their loyalty to Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3. Do you think that customer service and customer shopping decisions are two
dependent variables and are related to one another?
a) Yes
b) No
Q4. According to you, customer shopping decision influenced by the customer services
provided by Sainsbury’s Barkingside London?
a) Yes
b) No
Appendix 2 – Interview Questions
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Q1. What are different customer service strategies and practices adopted by Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London?
Q2. What according to you as a manager of customer service department of Sainsbury’s
Barkingside London needs to be improved within the customer service strategies of the
organisation?