Retailers Should Have A Complaint Management System in Place

It was Diwali day afternoon, around 1.00 p.m., and on an impulse my son and I decided to do some quick last-minute shopping at a newly opened hypermarket near our home.
The store was buzzing with consumers mainly buying gift items. We had a few specific things on our list and it took us only a few minutes to fill up our trolley. We walked towards the checkout area, and found it completely choked with waiting consumers. I heard one lady consumer yelling at an associate, asking why other counters were not working. “I have the right to know this!” she shouted. Associates were struggling with various issues like removal of security tags from the garments, reward coupons, filling the bags as well as handling of lucky draw coupons.
Taking my role as a consumer experience activist seriously, I entered the fray and demanded to see the store manager. The associate told me that he was busy with some very important work in the office. I said that that what I had to tell him was more important than the work he was doing and that he should come right away.
In the mean time my son and I wondered whether it was worth waiting here since it looked like taking a very long time before we would be able to pay and leave. Five minutes later, the store manager arrived and confided that the reason all counters were not working was that it was Diwali so most of the operators would only be coming on duty on the second shift.
I found this most amusing. How can any chain pretend to be a part of the organized retail movement and be unable to manage its workforce on the day of highest shopping in the entire year? I wondered who could be at the root of this mismanagement – was it policy, or was it only at the local level?
I explained to the store manager to be there personally and make sure that the consumers are services smoothly and if required regulate them based on the basket size.
Ten minutes later, I was still in the queue. The store manager came back to me, smiling victoriously, and said he had organized it all. He then disappeared.
Many frustrated consumers in the queue were swearing never to come back to this place again. By the time I had paid my bill and collected my reams of gift coupons, another 15 minutes had passed. In all it had taken me more than 25 minutes to pay for shopping that took less than 5 minutes! I would certainly avoid that store on another rush day.
Retailers must understand that festival shopping season in the new climate of financial uncertainty will have a double impact on the consumer flow in the coming weeks. Consumers are likely to choose shopping destinations with pleasant memories and avoid those where they have had experiences of this type. The financial effect of a poor consumer experience can be very damaging even though it may not be visible in a short time. Consumers are typically likely to visit a department store only once in 3 or 4 months and it would take a few months before the bad experiences are reflected in lagging sales. By then it would most likely be irreversible, and would certainly required a great deal of effort and expense to address.
To prevent such consumer erosion, retailers must put a complaint management system in place. This would provide a listening post for issues at the store, city and regional levels. To be truly effective, such a system must promptly route complaints to the appropriate business role and ensure timely response and management accountability.
The second step retailers must take is more critical: This is to set up a sensitive measurement system which is alert to unwritten complaints that occur when the promise of a great shopping experience is not met. While a complaint management system picks up only routine failures (such as non-availability, staff service etc.) failures in providing excellent service during each and every consumer transaction creates silent complaints. As these complaints accumulate they can become potentially very damaging for the business.
Retailers’ proactive ability to manage consumer experience and ensure timely resolution of consumer complaints can help them grow their business effectively.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published in DNA Money on 13th November 2008