University Marketing Report: Customer Satisfaction in Retail Analysis

This report analyzes an NBC News article discussing customer satisfaction in the retail sector, focusing on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and the performance of online retailers like Amazon, Etsy, and Nordstrom. The article highlights the increasing consumer satisfaction in online shopping, emphasizing the importance of consumer experience and the impact of factors like perceived performance and expectation confirmation. It also explores the preference of consumers for stores like Costco, which suggests the significance of interactional justice in ensuring customer satisfaction. The report connects the article's findings to marketing concepts such as cognitive dissonance and attribution theory, providing a comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior and the dynamics of online retail. The report references the article and supporting academic papers to strengthen its analysis.

MARKETING
MARKETING
University Name
Course Name
Author Note

MARKETING
Name of the article -
These are America's favorite online and brick-and-mortar stores. Is yours on the list?
(Trader Joe’s, Wegmans and H-E-B supermarkets top Amazon for overall customer satisfaction
in new national survey.)
Publication of article –
NBC News
Date of the article -
March 6, 2020, 9:32 PM IST
Link to the article -
https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/these-are-america-s-favorite-online-brick-mortar-
stores-yours-ncna1148476
Summary of the article -
The article summarizes the increasing consumer satisfaction score as per the annual American
customer satisfaction index (ACSI) in internet retailing. The three major online retailers who
have been rated the highest in online retailers are Amazon, Etsy, and Nordstrom (Weisbaum
2020). It is to note that the satisfaction of consumers, falling under the context of “consumption
to satisfaction”, is majorly dependable over the consumer experiences through the several stages
of purchasing and shopping. The article summarizes the rising level of satisfaction among the

MARKETING
consumers in retailing, however, highlighting the preference of consumer to avail Costco stores
rather than shopping their products online.
Discussion -
Online shopping as well as online retailing is an e-commerce that enables consumers directly
from a seller without an intermediary service to purchase products or services via the internet
(Hemalatha and Balakrishnan 2020). This news article is related to the context of consumption to
satisfaction and the top line performances by Amazon, Etsy and Nordstrom to maintain customer
satisfaction by providing top consumer experience, in retail marketing. In line to the expectation
confirmation theory, this article sheds light over the post-purchase satisfaction of the consumers
after online shopping in line with the functions of perceived performance and expectation.
However, the preference of consumers to avail satisfying shopping experiences in Costco stores
than much-publicized online shopping, clearly demonstrates positive disconfirmation (Grant and
Philipp 2020). This situation furthermore points out the need for interactional justice, where the
consumer affected by the decision of purchase satisfaction from Costco store needs to be treated
with respect and dignity. To summarize, the article clearly demonstrates the rising usage of
online shopping and customer satisfaction, provided by retail industries like Amazon. An
example of cognitive dissonance can be stated in the context of this research article, where the
editor highlighted the quote by the managing director of American Customer Satisfaction Index
(ACSI), regarding how consumer nowadays finds it to be much easier and satisfying to
experience purchase and shopping in the online platform, than the basic brick and mortar. This is
because majority of the customers do not bother about the retailer, but focuses more on their
customer satisfaction, their expectations and most importantly the service quality (Jindal and
Upadhyaya 2020). This summary and the discussion of the article highlighting the rising rate of

MARKETING
online shopping and customer satisfaction rate itself is a portrayal of the attribution theory where
the consumers are motivated towards online retailing and their purchasing behavior due to their
convenience.

MARKETING
Reference
Grant, D. and Philipp, B., 2020, March. An international study of the impact of B2C logistics
service quality on shopper satisfaction and loyalty. In 17th Toulon-Verona international
conference proceedings.
Hemalatha, J. and Balakrishnan, L., 2020. Relationship Between Service Quality and Online
Shopping Experience–Empirical Evidence with Structural Framework Modelling. Our
Heritage, 68(1), pp.1857-1871.
Jindal, S. and Upadhyaya, A., 2020. ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS AFFECTING ONLINE
SHOPPING. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(56), pp.894-906.
Weisbaum, H., 2020. These Are America's Favorite Online And Brick-And-Mortar Stores. Is
Yours On The List? (Trader Joe’S, Wegmans And H-E-B Supermarkets Top Amazon For Overall
Customer Satisfaction In New National Survey.). [online] NBC News. Available at:
<https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/these-are-america-s-favorite-online-brick-mortar-
stores-yours-ncna1148476> [Accessed 16 April 2020].