As part of the elective subject "Customer Satisfaction Analysis", students on the "Retail and Logistics" course at the Faculty of Retail and Social Work at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Dr Christian Rafflenbeul-Schaub, investigated customer satisfaction at Ostfalia graduate Thomas Rippl's REWE store in Wittenberge, Brandenburg.
The students went through all the steps of the project
Customer satisfaction is an important early warning indicator for the market success of any company in a competitive environment. "The aim of our study was to determine customer satisfaction overall and in specific areas by means of a customer survey. We also wanted to uncover potential for improvement and prioritise areas for action," explains project manager Rafflenbeul-Schaub. The students went through all the steps of the project - from developing and programming the questionnaire, to analysing the data with the professional statistics programme SPSS, through to the presentation, interpretation and presentation of the results - always under expert guidance. "It was particularly helpful that we travelled to Wittenberge at the start of the semester to get to know the REWE store and that we received intensive instruction on working with SPSS. All in all, it was a great opportunity for practical learning," reports one student.
75 people answered more than 35 individual questions
The questionnaire was based on the multi-attribute model of customer satisfaction, in which overall satisfaction results from the evaluation of several categories, which can be weighted differently. 75 people took part in the survey and answered more than 35 individual questions on the assessment categories of product range, shop design, service, prices and employees. These five categories were able to explain around 60 per cent of the variance in overall satisfaction, with the product range and service being the strongest drivers of overall satisfaction. The availability of products, the quality of fruit and vegetables and waiting times at the checkout were identified as areas for improvement. "We are working on these points," says store owner Thomas Rippl and thanks the students for the insightful analysis.
