Retail Quality and Relationship Quality: Gender Based Perspective in Retail

Abstract

The retail, globally, is one of the fastest growing businesses. India, with the second largest population in the world, offers to be an attractive retail destination for both domestic as well as global retail investors. In the context of growing importance of retail in India, this paper seeks to explore the impact of consumers gender on quality parameters in modern retail formats. The study employs exploratory and descriptive research methodologies. Customers of both department stores and hypermarkets did not differ significantly in their perceptions of service quality and relationship quality on the basis of gender. The findings of the study have direct implications on development of marketing mix or value creation strategies. The perception based analysis suggests the adoption of a marketing mix based on relevant dimensions to be effective in creating quality and relationships across the two retail formats. The study provides insights into how well the retailers contribute towards customer satisfaction on various service quality and relationship quality parameters. These could be used by store managers in resource allocation in accordance to critical service attributes and in designing strategies for improvement in lacking areas. The research contributes to furthering knowledge on retailing in India and thereby seeks to fill the gap with respect to quality in retail.

Keywords: Retail Service Quality, Relationship Quality, Perceptions

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