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To present the empirical findings of two qualitative studies of Estonian consumers and how they interpret and perceive retail service quality.

The two qualitative techniques were critical incident technique (CIT) and focus groups. For the CIT study, an e‐mail survey was administered. Respondents of both good and bad examples of retail service were collected. For the focus group studies, six sessions were held, three in Tallinn and three in Tartu. All findings were compiled and analysed within the framework of retail service drivers.

Retail service quality is a relevant construct for examination in Estonia. There is an expectation by consumers to exert their own sense of shopping capabilities. There is an expectation that selling staff need to be authoritative, and to show consideration to the consumer through acts of politeness and courtesy. Also there is an expectation that policies exist to make things right when a problem occurs.

The findings are limited within the potentially confounding effects of other consumer‐specific shopping variables. These effects were minimised through the use of multiple qualitative methods.

Within Estonia, there is a need for a greater understanding of retail consumer behaviour theory and practice, rather than mere consumer data gathering. Estonian consumers may be willing to accept a degree of responsibility in making product choices and should not expect the retailer to play a role in ensuring that occurs, but there is also an expectation that the retailer should take responsibility for correcting problems that are within their control, and that those responsibilities should be formalised and communicated.

As the retail sector continues to develop in terms of both retail brand and retail format choice in countries such as Estonia, there is a need for a greater understanding of retail consumer behaviour theory and practice rather than mere consumer data gathering. This study has presented one such example.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the underlying mechanism of how consumer-to-store employee and consumer-to-self-service technology (SST) interaction qualities contribute to consumer retail patronage.

A total of 300 surveys for each type of in-store kiosk were used for the data analysis. The proposed model was analysed using structural equation modelling.

This study suggests a direct link from SST usage frequency to perception of SST service quality. Also, retail patronage intentions were positively influenced by both interpersonal service quality and SST service quality, and SST usage intentions were positively affected by retail patronage intentions. Lastly, three causal links were shown to be dissimilar between the two types of in-store kiosk: interpersonal service quality-retail patronage intentions, SST service quality-retail patronage intentions, and SST service quality-SST usage intentions. The remaining links were similar for both types of in-store kiosks.

Previous empirical work on this topic has mostly been limited to investigations of service quality of either a human- or a technology-based service option. In contrast, the current study incorporates both interpersonal service quality and SST service quality as critical factors affecting retail patronage intentions and thus provides an important opportunity to advance the understanding of consumer-to-store employee and consumer-to-SST interaction qualities and their contribution to consumer retail patronage.

Sporting goods retailing is a significant sector within the sport industry with the total revenue of this sector reaching $52.2 billion in 2018. Beset with formidable competition, sporting goods stores are compelled to augment their merchandise with service and improve retail quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate retail quality of sporting goods stores (RQSGS).

Based on 27,793 online reviews of 1481 stores in the United States, this study used Leximancer 4.0, a text mining software, to identify critical retail quality dimensions associated with sporting goods stores, and further explored the most salient dimensions among different levels of ratings.

Customer service and store aspects are the two higher-order dimensions of RQSGS; holistic experience, manager and staff are three themes under customer service, and product, B&M store and online–offline integration are three themes under store aspects. Furthermore, extreme reviews focus more on customer service, whereas lukewarm reviews focus more on store aspects.

Knowledgeable staff, managers and online–offline integration are instrumental in creating superior retail quality. Sporting goods stores should enhance hedonic and social values for consumers in order to ward off online competitions.

This study explored retail quality dimensions that are pertinent to sporting goods retailing utilizing text mining methods. This study to certain extent cross-validated the existing retailing literature that is developed on alternative methods.

Limited attention has been given to the stability of the dimensions of quality across different types of internet retailing. This study aims to identify four distinct categories of internet retailing, develops a separate quality measurement scale for each category, then compares the dimensions of quality that emerged for each context.

Four category‐specific quality measurement scales (or RECIPE scales) were developed, one for each Fulfilment‐Product type of internet retailing. The scales were administered to 1,262 internet shoppers, then the data were used to refine and assess the statistical properties of each instrument. A cross‐category review of the refined quality dimensions was performed.

All four categories of internet retailing involve the quality dimensions of customer service and security. However, the dimensions of quality associated with selecting, paying for and obtaining products vary according to the type of product that is purchased (goods versus services) and the fulfilment method (offline versus electronic).

There are four category‐specific variations of internet retailing quality. This study provides a framework for distinguishing and measuring each variation.

The “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach to measuring and managing internet retailing quality is not sufficient. Managers should develop quality management strategies that cater to the purchase and fulfilment requirements of customers in their type of internet retailing.

This study delineates internet retailing into four categories and presents a quality measurement scale for each category. This includes scales for three categories where such instruments do not otherwise exist.

This study attempts to examine the relationship between the dimensions of service quality and customer loyalty in a retail chain departmental store setting in Victoria, Australia. The focus of the study is on the differences between two retail districts; namely, the city retail district, consisting of, primarily, two retail stores located approximately 20km from the city of Melbourne (n = 339); and the country retail district, consisting of, primarily, two retail stores located approximately 200km from the city of Melbourne (n = 324). The results showed that service quality is positively associated with customer loyalty, and that the most significant predictor of customer loyalty in the city retail district is empathy, while the most significant predictor of customer loyalty in the country retail district is tangibles. Further discussion and managerial implications can be interpreted from these findings

A multidimensional measure of perceived online service quality was developed based on consumers’ comments about their experiences with online retailers. These comments were organized and compared to the SERVQUAL scale. A survey was administered to adults who had made online purchases or role‐played the experience. While reflective of the SERVQUAL dimensions, the new measures became less reliant on interpersonal interactions and more technologically relevant. A new dimension also emerged that reflects consumers’ concerns for the geographic distance and facelessness of their experience. The study points to areas of improvement for online service quality.

The purpose of this study is to examine ways in which service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks influences consumers' retail patronage intentions.

The model was tested in two self‐service kiosk settings: self‐checkout and information kiosk. Survey participants were members of a consumer panel from an online survey agent. A total of 1,230 e‐mails were distributed. Of these, 600 usable surveys were used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The study demonstrates that service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks is a direct and an indirect determinant of consumers' retail patronage intentions; service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks directly influences consumers' retail patronage intentions and also indirectly influences consumers' retail patronage intentions through three dimensions of retail service quality (i.e. reliability, personal interaction, and problem solving).

Compared with previous studies that were heavily focused on consumer acceptance or trial of self‐service technologies, the study attempts to address formerly unexplored aspects of self‐service kiosks' contribution to retail patronage. A second contribution of the study which makes it different from prior studies that were mostly conducted in the context of self‐checkouts is that it tests a conceptual model related to two types of self‐service kiosks (i.e. self‐checkout and information kiosk) to examine whether the proposed relationships are similar or dissimilar across the two types.

Various models and scales exist in the literature to measure retail bank service quality without any attempt at integrating them and the moderators have often been under explored. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the SERVQUAL and BSQ models and moderated the resulting scale with price in order to examine service quality and customer satisfaction with retail bank services in Ghana.

The study is quantitative and the survey methodology was used to collect data from 560 retail bank customers. The result was analyzed through structural equation modeling.

The study provides an expanded model for measuring retail bank service quality as seven of the eight latent constructs emerged as service quality dimensions when moderated with price. It is significant to also note that five of the constructs – tangibles, reliability, assurance, empathy and price – from the direct relationship emerged as the dimensions of retail bank service quality that positively and significantly predicted customer satisfaction.

The study provides insight into customer behavior with the quality of retail bank services in Ghana. The resulting broader dimensions provide an integrated and expanded model as well as pointers to bank managers on service quality and customer satisfaction cues to enable them attract, serve and retain customers.

The study is the first of its kind to integrate two of the popular models to measure retail bank service quality and to use price as a moderator of this relationship. The resulting scale, which comprised of variables from the two models, provides support for the approach used in the current study.

While there have been numerous studies on the antecedents and consequences of service quality, there has been little investigation of the moderators of service quality. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effects of two moderators: service convenience and the social servicescape. The moderating effects are tested in two service settings: retail and hedonic (concert).

A survey of 270 customers at kitchen display showrooms and 320 concert‐goers was undertaken. The results were analysed using regression analysis.

The results show support for ten of the 12 hypotheses. Service convenience moderated the relationships between perceived service quality and its three sub‐dimensions (interaction, environment, and outcome quality), differently in different settings (retail vs hedonic). This supports the authors' general argument that the outcome dimension tends to be more important to customers in a retail setting, while interaction and environment quality dimensions tend to be more important in hedonic service consumption.

These findings suggest that managers need to use different service management tactics in retail and hedonic service settings. Specifically managers in retail settings need to pay more attention to service convenience to achieve service quality and managers in hedonic settings should concentrate on the social servicescape.

This paper is the first to test the moderating factors of service convenience and social servicescape on service quality.

The objectives of this paper are to examine the stability of the dimensions of quality across various categories of internet retailing and to identify the quality criteria that are associated with each category.

Interviews are conducted to examine the quality requirements of internet shoppers relative to four categories of internet retailing. A quality criteria model (or RECIPE) is developed for each category and a comparison of the instruments is performed.

All four categories of internet retailing involve quality dimensions of “web site”, “transaction”, “delivery”, “customer service”, and “security”. However, the criteria within these dimensions are not stable across the categories. Most of the differences relate to the transaction and fulfilment processes.

In measuring and managing internet retailing quality, “one size does not fit all”. Quantitative research is required to develop and refine quality measurement scales for the three categories of internet retailing for which such instruments do not exist.

Managers should use category‐specific quality management tools to ensure that the purchase and fulfilment requirements of customers are addressed adequately and appropriately.

Because most studies assume that all types of internet retailing are much the same, they have proposed general‐purpose scales for measuring quality. In contrast, the present study identifies and describes four category‐specific variations of internet retailing quality.