Customer Experience as a Driver of Differentiation in Mass Retailing: An Exploratory Quantitative Study of Customer Perceptions, Pain Points, and Loyalty Intentions

Abstract

Abstract

Within an increasingly competitive market, characterised by digitalised shopping journey and homogeneous retail offerings, customer experience can represent meaningful avenue for differentiation. This study investigates consumers’ perceptions of customer-experience dimensions, determines the main friction points throughout the shopping journey, and behavioural intentions associated with customer loyalty. The study implements an exploratory quantitative design based on a structured questionnaire comprising ten-item. According to the source dissertation, 50 complete responses were collected and analysed descriptively using indicators linked to all satisfaction, in-store journey fluidity, digital-service usage, product availability, revisit intention, willingness to recommend. The Results suggest an overall favourable customer experience, specifically, 58% of respondents reported being satisfied, 66,7% perceived the in-store journey as fluid or very fluid, and 75% reported using digital tools at least Periodically. Therefore, all respondents reported having experienced stockouts, meanwhile checkout waiting times remained a meaningful source of friction, despite these challenges, revisit intention reached 68,7%. The findings suggest that experiential differentiation is unlikely to result from a single service attribute, rather, it occurs to depend on Regularity across operational efficiency, omni-channel continuity, and quality’s’ relational. From a managerial perspective, the results emphasize the importance of reducing customer friction, upgrading product availability, strengthening digital personalization and enhancing after sales service

Keywords

Customer experience; retailing; differentiation; satisfaction; loyalty; omnichannel; digitalisation