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(When) Is it Worth Investing in the Personal Service Encounter?

Egan-Wyer, Carys LU orcid ; Valentin, Sofia and Parsmo, Åsa (2023) p.345-358
Abstract
Many retail chains believe that the personal service encounter is the solution to declining sales figures. Via a large-scale study of Swedish fashion consumers, we demonstrate, that this may not necessarily be the case. We argue that retailers can potentially save money and convert more customers by providing a more automated journey, which includes self-service technologies, for some customers, and reserving personal service encounters for those that need it to be converted. The retail industry has a lot to gain (financially) from facilitating a more automated customer acquisition while streamlining and prioritising store employees’ time where it will generate most returns. Based on our findings, we suggest that the successful retail... (More)
Many retail chains believe that the personal service encounter is the solution to declining sales figures. Via a large-scale study of Swedish fashion consumers, we demonstrate, that this may not necessarily be the case. We argue that retailers can potentially save money and convert more customers by providing a more automated journey, which includes self-service technologies, for some customers, and reserving personal service encounters for those that need it to be converted. The retail industry has a lot to gain (financially) from facilitating a more automated customer acquisition while streamlining and prioritising store employees’ time where it will generate most returns. Based on our findings, we suggest that the successful retail stores of the future will be the ones that can answer the following question: When is it worth investing in the personal service encounter and when are self-service technologies more appropriate? This chapter will help them to do so.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
The Future of Consumption : How Technology, Sustainability and Wellbeing will Transform Retail and Customer Experience - How Technology, Sustainability and Wellbeing will Transform Retail and Customer Experience
editor
Bäckström, Kristina ; Egan-Wyer, Carys and Samsioe, Emma
pages
345 - 358
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN
978-3-031-33246-3
978-3-031-33245-6
978-3-031-33248-7
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-33246-3_22
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a672948b-861c-4759-b020-01633fb384b9
date added to LUP
2023-10-19 09:47:10
date last changed
2024-02-02 15:27:16
@inbook{a672948b-861c-4759-b020-01633fb384b9,
  abstract     = {{Many retail chains believe that the personal service encounter is the solution to declining sales figures. Via a large-scale study of Swedish fashion consumers, we demonstrate, that this may not necessarily be the case. We argue that retailers can potentially save money and convert more customers by providing a more automated journey, which includes self-service technologies, for some customers, and reserving personal service encounters for those that need it to be converted. The retail industry has a lot to gain (financially) from facilitating a more automated customer acquisition while streamlining and prioritising store employees’ time where it will generate most returns. Based on our findings, we suggest that the successful retail stores of the future will be the ones that can answer the following question: When is it worth investing in the personal service encounter and when are self-service technologies more appropriate? This chapter will help them to do so.<br/><br/>}},
  author       = {{Egan-Wyer, Carys and Valentin, Sofia and Parsmo, Åsa}},
  booktitle    = {{The Future of Consumption : How Technology, Sustainability and Wellbeing will Transform Retail and Customer Experience}},
  editor       = {{Bäckström, Kristina and Egan-Wyer, Carys and Samsioe, Emma}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-031-33246-3}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{345--358}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  title        = {{(When) Is it Worth Investing in the Personal Service Encounter?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33246-3_22}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-031-33246-3_22}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}