Singapore, 27 June 2019 (Thursday) – The Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) (卓越服务研究院) released the 2019 Q1 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) results for the Retail and Info-Communications sectors today.
Both industry sectors increased their respective scores for the fifth consecutive year and recorded statistically higher levels of customer satisfaction compared to the same period last year. The Retail sector improved by 1.1% year-on-year to score 73.4 points (on a 0 to 100 scale). The Info-communications sector made even stronger gains, scoring 72.1 points, a 2.4% improvement over 2018. These results were based on 6,900 interviews with retail customers and info-communication service subscribers. The study was conducted between January and April 2019.
Within the Retail sector, which comprised of four constituent sub-sectors, the Department Stores and e-Commerce sub-sectors showed marked improvements of 1.6% and 1.5% year-on-year, respectively; both the Department Stores and e-Commerce sub-sectors recorded 73.0 points in customer satisfaction. The other two Retail sub-sectors, namely Fashion Apparels and Supermarkets, recorded smaller upticks over the past year to score 73.4 points and 73.6 points, respectively.
A key observation this year across all four Retail sub-sectors was local customers’ noticeably improved levels of perceived value. Across a three-year period, satisfaction with the “Attractiveness of promotions” at department stores, supermarkets, and e-commerce sites were also observed to be substantially improved.
“These in-store and online promotions, coupled with improvements across several other quality-related attributes, such as product availability and staff knowledge, have notably raised customers’ perceptions of quality and value.
“By balancing investments in drivers of quality alongside targeted price promotions, businesses can sustainably raise customer perceptions over time,” remarked Ms Neeta Lachmandas (妮塔.拉切曼达斯), ISE Executive Director (执行总监).
The Info-Communications sector also saw marked improvements in two of its four constituent sub-sectors. The Broadband sub-sector scored 70.6 points while the PayTV sub-sector scored 70.2 points, improvements of 2.6% and 3.2% year-on-year, respectively. The Mobile Telecom and Wireless@SG sub-sectors also recorded higher scores from the previous year, at 72.7 points and 73.2 points, respectively. However, these upticks were not considered statistically significant.
Further scrutiny of the three telco sub-sectors showed that product-related quality attributes such as “Range of subscription plans” and “Data speeds” rate relatively well among surveyed customers. Comparatively, service-related attributes such as “Has customer’s best interest at heart” and “Makes customer feel assured” performed relatively poorer. Impact analysis of these quality attributes revealed that it was in fact these service-related attributes that were bigger drivers of quality, as compared to the product-related attributes.
Mr Chen Yongchang (陈勇畅), ISE Head of Research and Consulting, said, “New entrants into the Singapore telco market have prompted the incumbents to be very competitive in the product space, and this was reflected in the improved product attribute ratings.
“However, the analysis revealed that attributes that connect with customers’ sense of assurance and empathy were the biggest drivers of perceived quality. Telcos that successfully engage their customers in these areas will likely reap the most benefits in terms of overall satisfaction and long-term loyalty,” he concluded.
Please refer to Annex A for a background on the CSISG and Annex B for the detailed scores.
For media queries, please contact:
Mr Tim Zhuang
Senior Manager, Partnerships and Programme Development
Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) at Singapore Management University
DID: (65) 6808 5258
Mobile: (65) 9748 9389
Email: timzhuang [at] smu.edu.sg ()
Mr Teo Chang Ching
Senior Assistant Director, Corporate Communications
Office of Corporate Communications and Marketing
DID: (65) 6828 0451
Mobile: (65) 9431 8353
Email: ccteo [at] smu.edu.sg ()