Understanding and Engaging in the Customer Experience

This project report explores the concept of customer experience and its impact on business success. It discusses the factors affecting customer value and strategies to maximize it, using TESCO as a case study. The report also highlights the importance of product specification, price, quality, and branding in influencing customer value. Overall, it provides valuable insights into understanding and engaging in the customer experience.

Understanding and Engaging
in the Customer Experience

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
COMPANY BACKGROUND........................................................................................................3
TESCO PLC Ltd.:........................................................................................................................3
CUSTOMER VALUE.....................................................................................................................4
1. Factors affecting customer value:............................................................................................5
SERVICE QUALITY....................................................................................................................13
1. SERVQUAL Model:.............................................................................................................14
2. Gap Model of Service Quality:..............................................................................................17
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience can be defined as the outcome of a customer’s interaction with any
company or organisation over a period of time (Šambronská, 2013). It is a very subjective matter
and is influenced by many factors which contribute to the perceived value of the product for
customers. In the following project report, an attempt has been made to identify the factors
which impact the potential of maximising the customer value for TESCO. TESCO is a leading
chain of grocery retail stores which was founded in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen. The following
project report aims to evaluate the effectiveness of quality systems of TESCO in meeting the
customer requirements.
COMPANY BACKGROUND
TESCO PLC Ltd.:
TESCO, one of the leading grocery retailer in United Kingdom, was founded in the year
1919 by Jack Cohen. The company has a huge chain of supermarket stores in not just UK but in
more than 7 countries. It is also one of the largest food retailer in the world. Initially, the
company was started with a small grocery store but over the years, the operations of TESCO has
expanded to a variety of product ranges and even services. The company is the leader in the
supermarket retail industry in UK with a market share of approximately 27% which is much
higher when compared with any of its competitors (Chowdhury, 2016). Company majorly faces
competition from other grocery retail stores such as Sainsbury’s, Morrisons etcetera. The annual
revenue of the company in the year 2019 was estimated at $75.6B and the number of employees
were more than 4,60,000. TESCO had 6800 shops worldwide in the year 2019 which accounts
for the widely spread operations of the supermarket giant. The company offers a wide range of
products to its customers varying from household products to daily food essentials.

Source: https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/sourcing/top-20/
Both the online and physical stores of the company are estimated to serve about more than
million customers per week which makes it imperative for the company to understand the
importance of customer relationship management and maximise the potential value of its
products and services for the customers. Customer relationship management can be defined as
the management approach at interacting with current and potential customers of a business with
an aim of obtaining long-term sales growth. Customer relationship management aims to develop
long-term positive relations with the customers which helps a company to maintain its
competitive position in the industry and increase the value of customer satisfaction. Customer
satisfaction comes from the personal experience of the customer. Customer experience can be
defined as the perceived result of the experience of a customer with an interaction with any
brand. Customer experience is one of the most important factors which determine the long-term
relationship between the company and its customers. A detailed analysis of customer value and
experience is being done in the following sections of the report.
CUSTOMER VALUE
Customer value can be defined as a concept which is used to determine the sum total of all
the benefits as perceived by the customer upon consumption of a product or service. It is a term
used to determine the worth of a product or service for any customer. Customer value is the
outcome of customer experience. Over the years, business environment has changed completely
with the number of people being involved in the manufacturing or service sector ever-increasing.

This change or trend in business environment has increased the importance of customer value as
a concept for business managers and organisations in effectively shaping the nature of their
operations and financial performance of the company (Peeroo, Samy and Jones, 2016). An
organisation’s value perception usually becomes least important in determining the sales of a
product or service and this is where customer value dominates in influencing operations in every
industry whatsoever. Arguably, the sales or popularity of a product is not based on the
management perception of its values but the perceived benefits and advantages of using that
product in the minds of customer is what really determines the sales potential. Hence,
understanding the nature of customer behaviour and customer value becomes an important job of
managers of every business organisation in any industry. From this context, it is imperative for
the management of TESCO Ltd. to understand that customer value is a very subjective matter
and can only be influenced, never controlled. Identifying what drives a customer is important for
comprehension of the customer value.
1. Factors affecting customer value:
Every organisation makes efforts to maximise the customer value associated with its
offerings so that the competitive edge can be maintained. Here are a few important factors or
dimensions which needs to be considered for maximisation of customer value:
Products:
Product specification and description is one of the most important determinant of
customer value. A product which is being offered by any company or organisation should be in
compliance and similarity with the customer requirements and needs. Identifying the needs of the
customer and creating a product which has the potential to fulfil and satisfy customer needs is an
important task which adds to the customer value. Identical products may have different perceived
value for different groups of customer so it becomes necessary for a business organisation to
determine the target group or potential customers to clearly establish the customer expectation
from a product. Creation of a customer persona is a technique which helps the business
organisations to figure out ways in which customer value can be improved.
For the purpose of maximisation of customer value, TESCO has taken some great
initiatives by offering products which hit the sweet spot of customer requirements. The
management of the company keeps bringing new innovations to the existing product lines which
helps to further increase the value associated with the product. The vast range of product being

offered by the company is the testimony to the fact that customer value is an important criterion
in taking management decisions by the company (Vu, 2016). The company recently launched a
new range of organic food items with an objective of catering to the changing needs of healthy
food items with high nutritional contents of customers as more and more people are becoming
aware of the health issues and concerns. I believe that as far as the product requirement and
specification is considered, TESCO is doing a great work in offering products according to the
changing needs of the consumer. The company is also conducting regular feedbacks to ascertain
the likelihood of its products in fulfilling the demands and needs of consumer. As per my view,
TESCO certainly deserves a high rating when it comes to the product requirements dimension of
customer value as the company offers a large range of products which is expanding at a rapid
pace.
Source: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/252380883
Ranking:
According to me, I will rank TESCO 9/10 for its products which are according to the
specification and customer requirement such as organic food products. I will give 8/10 to
Sainsbury’s and 8/10 to Aldi because they are also offering products as per market demand.
Price:
Price can be defined as the amount which a customer has to pay in order to avail any
service or consume any product. It is another dimension which has an important role to play in
maximising customer value of products (Ihtiyar and Ahmad, 2012). If the price of a product is
higher than the perceived value of benefits for any consumer, it negatively affects the customer
value and if the price of a product is less than the perceived value of benefits for the consumer,

customer value increases massively. Even a slightest variation between the price and the
customer’s perceived value of benefits of a product or service has major impacts on customer
value in total. Price-optimisation tools are used by management to determine the relative demand
at different price levels and a level where maximisation of organisational goal is possible is
selected as the market price.
To increase the position of price dimension in company’s favour, TESCO frequently
makes use of various tools for sales promotion such as cash discounts, buy one get other at 50%
discount etcetera to increase the price value embedded in the products for the customer. The
policies which are being adopted by the company for pricing of the products clearly states out the
mission of the company to ensure that no one can beat it when it comes to monetary value of
products. As per my personal opinion, the price-value associated with the products is very high
as most of the products have a lot to offer as compared to the price which is further reduced with
the help of promotion tools. However, the company has recently increased the prices for a lot of
its products which is affecting the customer value negatively and the management of the
company has to take steps to control the damage being caused to customer value and experience
as a result of price hikes.
ITEMS TESCO SAINSBURY’S ALDI
Semi-skimmed Milk (4 pints) £1.10 £1.10 £1.09
Soft-white Farmhouse Bread (800g) £1.55 £1.45 £0.72
Orange-juice (1litre) £1.29 £1.40 £0.76
Fusilli (500g) £0.59 £0.60 £0.47
Medium-free range British Eggs (6) £0.90 £1.10 £0.79
Toilet Roll (4 pack, 2 ply) £2.65 £2 £1.59
Butter (500g) £1.90 £2.20 £0.76
Total £9.98 £9.85 £6.18
(Source:https://www.lovemoney.com/news/86638/tesco-metro-sainsburys-local-aldi-
convenience-store-essentials)
Ranking:
I will give 8/10 to both TESCO and Sainsbury’s and 10/10 to Aldi for prices as per my
experience. I think that products of TESCO and Sainsbury’s are overpriced when compared to
competitiors such as Aldi.

Quality:
Offering a wide range of products and offering a wide range of quality products are two
different things which define the importance of quality of a product or service in influencing the
customer value. Quality can be defined as the features or characteristics of a product or service
which differentiates it from the other products or services being offered in the market. Goods of
high quality often help in maximising the customer value and undermine the importance and
influence of other dimensions such as price (lal Bhardwaj, 2012). Quality is a relative concept
and hence it is difficult to define a fixed standard or benchmark which could have the potential to
meet any demand or situation. Thus, it is important for product managers to ensure that best
efforts are being put to increase the quality of the product while considering the other factors or
dimensions of customer value.
TESCO is a company which strongly emphasize the need to deliver the products of best
quality to the customer for increasing the customer satisfaction and value. The management of
the company has been making sure to formulate policies which help the company to produce
better quality products at a competitive prices. Approaches such as six sigma and total quality
management are being followed to adhere to the quality requirements of the customers
Ranking:
I have always liked the quality of products at TESCO so I will give 9/10 to TESCO for quality
and to Sainsbury’s I will give 9/10 also and to Aldi I will give 8/10 because sometimes I was not
satisfied with the quality of their products.
Brands:
Brand can be defined as anything such as logo, name or design which helps in
differentiating the goods of a particular seller or manufacturer from other goods in the market.

Value of a brand also has a major impact on the overall customer experience and satisfaction.
Customers are likely to associate themselves with a brand which has a high value and the mere
association with a highly-valued brand gives them an immense amount of satisfaction and
increases the richness of their experience (Siami and Gorji, 2012). Consumer relationships with
particulars brand is a testimony of the impact brand value has on development of customer
relationships and influencing customer value. Brand helps a firm to differentiate itself from its
rivals or competitors.
Source: https://www.marketingweek.com/tesco-shifts-marketing-focus-to-value/
TESCO is one of the highest valued brand in the United Kingdom and also stands strongly
in the worldwide group of highest-valued brands. It can be observed from the above graph that
the management of the company has shifted their focus towards building a brand of great value
in the past few years which has also changed the customer satisfaction levels. A brand which has
a high-value is able to gain the trust of the customer and having a positive customer attitude
helps significantly in subconsciously improving the quality of customer experience and the
perceived value by the customers. I think that the strategies which the company has adopted for
branding has helped significantly in building a better brand image and as a result, customers are
more likely to associated themselves with TESCO and enjoy greater level of satisfaction. Some
of the most effective strategies around building a better brand image has been of ‘every little
helps’ and ‘exclusively at TESCO’. Under the first strategy of the company, focus was laid on
giving to society by contributing in terms of little helps that matters. The next strategy of the
company focused on offering an entire range of products which were available only at TESCO

which gives the leverage of attracting more consumers by targeting potential customers. The
level of satisfaction and customer value increased evidently as a consequence of improving the
brand value. I think it can be concluded that brand value is one of the important factor which can
have an impact on maximising customer value.
(Source: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/02/best-and-worst-supermarkets-for-2019/)
Ranking:
I will give 8/10 rating to TESCO for brand value as there is a scope of improvement. I will give
9/10 to Sainsbury’s and 10/10 to Aldi because both the companies are taking necessary steps for
establishing a strong brand.
Value-adding services:
Value-adding services as the name suggests are services which are being offered by
companies or business organisations with the objective of increasing the worth and benefits of
using a product or availing any service. Value-adding services have the objective of providing
additional value and benefit to the customer other than the benefits associated with the product
(Vorasaiharit and Thawesaengskulthai, 2016). These are services which are not the core
competency of the organisation but an additional provision for increasing the customer
satisfaction and enhancing consumer experience. For example, after sales services, home-
delivery, online shopping etcetera. These services generally increase the convenience for the user

or customer in some way or the other. Understanding the importance of providing services which
adds to the value of a product is necessary for managers to enhance the customer experience and
satisfaction.
TESCO has been making changes in its policies and started offering additional services
which are very impactful in increasing the overall customer satisfaction and experience. The
company has recently launched an online platform where customers can shop very conveniently
by the help of few clicks. Provision of shopping online is very impactful in increasing the
perceived value of products and services. The company website is a very efficiently designed
platform where the customer can shop without any complexities and it adds to the overall value
of the products. I believe that the provision of bulk shopping – offering a wide range of products
under one roof and online shopping is a very effective way which has improved the experience
and satisfaction levels drastically for me and many others.
Source: https://www.carolinemayling.com/2013/08/tesco-malaysia-online-shopping.html
Ranking:
Because of TESCO’s online shopping facility, I will give 9/10 to TESCO for value-added
services and 8/10 to Sainsbury’s and 9/10 to Aldi because it is also developing such services.
Customer-relationship:
Customer-relationship can be defined as the connection between the customers and the
company. Relationship of a company with its customers influences the satisfaction level and
experience of the customer. Managers of business organisations are taking measures to develop a
long-term relationship with the customers to obtain stable future-sales. Many a times, a customer
is influenced to buy the product of any particular brand or company on the basis of his prior
experience and the relationship which has been developed with the company (Dinçer, Yüksel and

Pınarbaşı, 2019). It takes a significant amount of time and effort to develop long-term
relationships with the customers but the relevance and importance of customer-relationship in
influencing buying decisions and perceived value can hardly be doubted.
TESCO implemented a loyalty card program to enable the customers to avail discounts
when they shop for multiple times with the company. It is one of the best measure which is being
used by the company for relationship management and developing long-term relationships.
Loyalty card program help TESCO to also obtain important data regarding the demographics of
its customers which helps in further strategy formulations. I think that the loyalty card program
increases the perceived value of products for the customers of TESCO as the customer gets
entitled to a discount in future on the purchase of products from the same brand. It helps in
increasing sales for the company and at the same time helps in increasing customer satisfaction
levels. As per my opinion, along with loyalty card program, the management of the company
should take measures to strengthen the position of survey and feedback channels of the company
which could result in better grievance handling and increase the satisfaction level of customer
and build long-term relationships.
Source: https://eternalsunshineoftheismind.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/tesco-the-crm-champion/
Ranking:
Based on my personal experience, I think TESCO is taking some serious steps for CRM such as
club cards which are better than any of its competitors. Hence, I will give 9/10 to TESCO and
8/10 Aldi and 7/10 To Sainsbury’s.
SUMMARY TABLE:
DIMENSION TESCO ALDI SAINSBURY’S
Product 9 8 8
Price 8 10 7
Quality 9 8 9

Brand 8 10 9
Value-added services 9 9 8
CRM 9 8 7
Total 50/60 53/60 48/60
On the basis of this table, there is a scope of improvement in the customer value for TESCO in
many dimensions such as price-value and brand-value. With the help of improvement in these
areas, company can increase the overall value which it offers to the customers. Aldi is one of the
strongest customer value brand which is giving tough competition to TESCO.
SERVICE QUALITY
Over the past few years, there has been a drastic shift in the bargaining power and
dominance of customers with the number of choices and alternate options available for
customers ever increasing. This has led to a focus on improving the service quality being offered
by the companies to increase the level of customer satisfaction and experience. Service quality
can be referred as the capacity of a business organisation to fulfil the requirements and needs of
the customer in an effective and efficient manner which paves way for business growth and long-
term customer satisfaction. Service quality is predominantly linked with the level of customer
satisfaction (Mukerjee, 2013). Quality is a relative term and a limit of quality can’t be described.
Different level of quality of services generate different perceived value of products for customer
and influence the customer satisfaction. Service quality, as a concept, is not confined to the
organisations in service sector but is as important for good and products sector as it is for core-
service delivery organisations. From the context of TESCO ltd, the impact of dimensions of
service quality and the effectiveness of the company in meeting the requirements of the company
can be better understood with the help of two models – SERVQUAL and the Gap Model of
Service Quality. SERVQUAL is a measure which helps in evaluation of different dimensions of
service quality and Gap Model of Service Quality helps in analysing the effectiveness of an
organisation in meeting the customer requirements.

1. SERVQUAL Model:
ServQUAL is a model which is used to determine the level and quality of service which is
being offered by a company on the basis of measurement of five dimensions of service which are
reliability, tangibility, assurance, empathy and responsiveness (Razak, Nirwanto and Triatmanto,
2016). The managers of TESCO understand the relevance and application of this model in
ensuring high level of customer satisfaction which is desirable by every manager and business
organisation. It is a model which is used to determine and measure the quality of service which is
being rendered to the customers. Under this model, emphasis is laid on development of quality
systems particularly in the discipline of product quality. This model puts forward the argument
that an increase in the quality which is being provided in five dimensions of service results into a
better customer satisfaction and experience. Together, ServQUAL and Gap Model of Service
Quality helps in determining the effectiveness of an organisation in meeting customer
requirements. Here is a brief analysis of all five dimensions of service quality which have been
mentioned in the above passage with an organisational context of TESCO plc ltd.:
Source: https://www.marketingstudyguide.com/understanding-the-servqual-model/
Reliability – First Dimension of Service Quality
Reliability can be defined as the extent to which a company is accurate and honest in its
business activities. It is very important for any business organisation to make sure that the
customers trust the products which are being offered by the company. It determines the extent to
which a company delivers what it promises (Mollah and Sharif, 2014). As per my opinion, the
products which are being offered by the company TESCO are highly reliable with the
specification and product description being labelled on the packaging. Reliability is the most

important dimension of service quality which influences the attitude of a customer towards any
product or service which is being offered in the marketplace. I believe that the strategies which
are being adopted by the managers of TESCO Ltd. are highly effective in adding reliability as a
result of which quality of service improves remarkably.
Ranking:
According to my personal experience, I will give 9/10 to TESCO and 8/10 to Sainsbury’s and
7/10 to Aldi. Services of TESCO are very reliable to me.
Assurance – Second Dimension of Service Quality
Assurance as a dimension of service quality refers to the communication of expertise to
customers of a business. Even if the products which are being offered by a company or an
organisation are of the best quality possible, it is very important to make customers aware about
the expertise which is being and assure them with the quality levels. It showcases the ability and
capacity of the organisation and has a lot to deal with transmission of trust into the potential
customers. To assure the customers of the quality of products which are being offered by
TESCO, the company has launched an entire range of products which are available exclusively
at TESCO. The company is taking measures to increase customer’s trust and confidence in the
department which connects the company to customer which is Marketing Department.
Ranking:
I will give 9/10 to TESCO for assurance and 8/10 to both Sainsbury’s and Aldi because TESCO
assures the customers through ethical sourcing and information of the services which it is
providing.
Tangibility – Third Dimension of Service Quality
In most situations, customers of any business organisation evaluate the services which are
being offered with the help of comparing the tangibles associated with that service. Hence, it is
important for any company to make sure that tangibility of any service is also being taken care
of. In the context of TESCO, tangibility refers to the physical and tangible elements included in
the company stores and outlets (Younus, Rasheed and Zia, 2015). According to me, the
management of TESCO has communicated very effectively with the customer in many
disciplines of service quality and the overall presentation models used by the companies
improves the tangibility as a dimension of service quality.
Ranking:

I will give 8/10 to TESCO since low tangibility and 9/10 to both Sainsbury’s and Aldi because of
high tangibility and strong brand emphasis. I think there is a scope of improvement in the store
and outlet details and elements in TESCO.
Empathy – Fourth Dimension of Service Quality
Empathy as a dimension of service quality involves providing personalised care and
attention to the needs of the customer by a company or an organisation. It is the responsibility of
the business organisations to satisfy the needs and requirements of the customer and empathy
suggests that personalised attention to individual customer requirement is an important
determinant of service quality (Yi and Gong, 2013). In this context, TESCO is offering a wide
range of products which are being designed according to the needs and requirements of the
customer such as organic food items with high nutritional content. The company has launched
many variants in each product segment which could cater to the need of individual customers.
However, I think there is still a scope of improving the personalisation of products as per the
demands of customer.
Ranking:
TESCO is matching its service with customer requirements and hence, I will give 9/10 to
TESCO and 8/10 to Sainsbury’s and 9/10 to Aldi.
Responsiveness – Fifth Dimension of Service Quality
Responsiveness can be defined as the willingness and desire of a business organisation to
help and solve the problems of the customers promptly and as quickly as possible. It is measured
with the help of duration of time which is required by a company in addressing to any problem or
suggestion of its customers (Peeroo, Samy and Jones, 2015). It is one of the most important
determinant of the quality of service and has a great potential of increasing the customer
satisfaction. From the context of TESCO, it has been observed that the management has made
arrangements which helps the company in responding to the complaints and feedbacks of the
customers promptly. It has designed a platform for customers to give suggestions and feedbacks
on the company website which is a very effective way of increasing the responsiveness. Adding
the element of responsiveness helps TESCO in development of long-term relationships with the
customer.
Ranking:

I had a good experience of help and customer complaint redressal with TESCO hence I will give
10/10 to TESCO for responsiveness and 9/10 to Sainsbury’s and only 8/10 to Aldi because of
slow-responsiveness.
SUMMARY TABLE:
DIMENSION TESCO ALDI SAINSBURY’S
Reliability 9 7 8
Assurance 9 8 8
Tangibility 8 9 9
Empathy 9 9 8
Responsiveness 10 8 9
Total 45/50 41/50 42/50
On the basis of above table, it can be said that TESCO is providing a high quality of service with
respect to every dimension of service quality and this has helped the company to influence
satisfaction level of the customers. TESCO is a better brand in terms of service quality than its
competitiors such as Sainsbury’s and Aldi.
2. Gap Model of Service Quality:
The Gap Model of Service Quality is a framework which is being used by the business
managers to understand customer satisfaction in a better manner. Under this model, five gaps
have been identified which may exist in terms of customer satisfaction and the prime objective of
any organisation should be to address these gaps and try to mitigate them in order to improve
customer value. It is an important tool to measure the effectiveness of organisation in meeting
the customer requirements (Peppers and Rogers, 2016). The model puts forward the argument
that customer satisfaction is predominantly influenced by the perception. Customer satisfaction is
a phenomenon where a customer perceives the value of products or services as meeting the
expectations which he had in mind prior to interaction with the product. Any space between the
perceived value and customer expectation can be categorised in the following five gaps of
customer service:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERVQUAL
GAP 1 - The Knowledge Gap:
Knowledge Gap can be defined as the gap between customer expectations of a product or service
and the actual product or service (Jain, Aagja and Bagdare, 2017). This gap signifies the different
between the management perception of what customers want and the actual demands and requirements of
the customers. It may arise due to a number of reason which contribute to the lack of knowledge of
management such as ineffective market survey, inability to listen to customer grievances.
Ranking:
I will give 9/10 to TESCO for the knowledge gap since the management is able to provide products
which cater to the needs of customers for example the company launched an entire range of organic food
items with high nutritional content to address the customer requirement of healthy food items. I will rate
8/10 to both Sainsbury’s and Aldi.
GAP 2 - The Policy Gap:
The policy gap can be defined as the gap which arises out of the ability of translating the
management understanding of customer needs and requirements into a successful deliver of product or
service (Stein and Ramaseshan, 2016). Policy gap don’t arise due to a difference in management
perception of customer needs but because of lack of the ability of conversion of that understanding into
the product. In the context of TESCO, the management of the company was aware about the customer
need of cosmetic products and the company launched a range of beauty and cosmetic products but the
quality expectations of customer could not be met.
Ranking:
I will give 9/10 to TESCO regarding policy gap and I will give 8/10 to Sainsbury’s and Aldi.
due to scope of improvement in their policies and customer requirements.
GAP 3 - The Delivery Gap:

The delivery gap arises out of the difference in the policies and expectation of service delivery
and the actual delivery of service which may be due to a number of factors such as poor employee
training, lack of measures to ensure expected delivery standards etcetera. TESCO has recently launched a
new sales platform for online sales where customers can easily shop by being at home with a few clicks
and the company was not able to deliver the products at the time which was expected or promised due to
bulk orders which resulted into a delivery gap (Bagdare and Jain, 2013). The management of TESCO is
assigning delivery slots and asking customer for delivery preferences to ensure mitigation of delivery gap.
Ranking:
I will give 8/10 to TESCO because of glitches in online delivery and 9/10 to Sainsbury’s and
8/10 also to Aldi because of small delivery gap which I think exists in their services.
GAP 4 - The Communication Gap:
Communication gap arises due to a difference in what is being promised to the customers through
different mediums and channels of marketing and what actually gets delivered to the customers ( Rawson,
Duncan and Jones, 2013). Generally, companies put a lot of efforts in designing their marketing
campaigns which sometimes lead to a unconscious overpromising which in future becomes the reason for
the dissatisfaction of customers. TESCO is making sure that the marketing campaigns of the company are
in close stimulation with the actual benefits and advantages of the product and there is no scope for any
communication gap to exist. The company is also providing product brochures on various platforms to
ensure proper information about the product is being conveyed to the customers.
Ranking:
I will give 10/10 to TESCO for effective communication and 8/10 to Aldi for sometimes
misleading advertisements and 9/10 to Sainsbury’s.
GAP 5 - Customer Gap:
Customer gap is a gap in service quality which arises out of a difference in customer expectations
and customer perceptions related to a product or service (Klaus and Maklan, 2013). Expectations of a
customer is highly influenced by various factors such as online advertising, word of mouth, background
of customer etcetera. On the contrary, customer perception is highly personalized and subjective in nature
and is essentially based on the interaction of the customer with the product. It is the most important gap
which exists in the service quality and yet management can sometimes be unaware of any such gaps.
TESCO has provided the provision of returning the orders and products if the customers are not satisfied
and the company is also taking frequent surveys to identify any such gap if it exists at all.
Ranking:

As a customer of TESCO, I think my expectations are being met by TESCO and I will give a
9/10 to TESCO and 8/10 to both Sainsbury’s and Aldi because of low quality of service and
products which I have experienced in the past.
SUMMARY TABLE:
GAP TESCO ALDI SAINSBURY’S
The Knowledge Gap 9 8 8
The Policy Gap 9 8 8
The Delivery Gap 8 8 9
The Communication
Gap
10 8 9
The Customer Gap 9 8 8
Total 45/50 40/50 42/50
On the basis of above analysis of service gap model and summary table for TESCO, it can be
concluded that the company is effectively meeting the customer requirements and the quality of service
being offered by the company is promising and enhancing the customer value and satisfaction. However,
with the help of few changes in its strategy of addressing the gaps, the effectiveness in meeting customer
requirements can be increased significantly.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that customer experience and value is an
important determinant of the customer satisfaction which helps in further determination of a
company’s performance. Factors such as product specifications, price, brand etcetera have the
potential to impact the perceived value for customers (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). It has been
observed that TESCO is taking measures to increase the favourability of factors which impact
customer value. At last it can be concluded from the SERVQUAL model and the Gap Model of
Service Quality that the management of TESCO is effectively managing the quality systems to
meet the requirements and expectations of the customers.

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Online
Addressing the sustainability challenges in our top 20 products and ingredients. 2020. [Online]
Available thru<https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/sourcing/top-20/>
TESCO list of organic items. 2019. [Online] Available
thru<https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/252380883 >
TESCO’s history. 2020. [Online] Available
thru<http://www.tescobengaluru.com/about-us/tescos-history/>
Understanding the SERVQUAL Model. 2015. [Online] Available thru<
https://www.marketingstudyguide.com/understanding-the-servqual-model>
SERVQUAL. 2020. [Online] Available thru< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERVQUAL/>
Is Lidl really cheaper than TESCO, Aldi and Sainsbury’s. 2019. [Online] Available thru<
https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/02/best-and-worst-supermarkets-for-2019/>

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