Shoppers rank Halfords lowest on the high street
Shoppers put beauty shop Lush at the top of the high street shop customer service charts, with Halfords ranked last.
Shoppers tired of poor customer service, products or even store layout have taken their revenge by ranking high street shops - and Halfords was sunk to the bottom of the list.
The car and cycle repairs shop was voted the worst, with one punter referring to staff as “unhelpful and rude” in a damning verdict for the store, which received a customer satisfaction score of just 51%. WH Smith wasn’t racing much further ahead, with a score of 52%.
Consumer champion Which? carried out the research and questioned more than 11,000 people. Scores are based on price, products, service and store, as well as after sales or returns.
Top marks
Ethical cosmetics shop Lush topped the tables with a score of 83% - beating John Lewis and Apple, which both scored 81% and shared second place.
Lush was praised for its “friendly and knowledgeable staff” as well as its “high quality products”.
The ten highest rated shops all scored over 70% and in addition to first and second place the list includes: Lakeland, Clarks, Richer Sounds, the Disney Store, IKEA, Morrisons and Bon Marche.
Some of those on the list match the results thrown up by another, similarly-themed survey by Verdict Research. To find out who came top of that list read The UK’s favourite shop.
Bottom rung
The 10 lowest rated shops scored up to 58% and in addition to Halfords and WH Smith include: Blacks, Tesco, Poundstretcher, JJB Sports, TK Maxx, Brantano, BHS, Primark, Homebase and JD Sports, with some sharing the same score and rank in the list.
It’s highly likely that some of these stores are concentrating solely on cost-effectiveness over warm and fuzzy customer relations – Poundstretcher being a prime example. Anyone’s who has stepped inside a Primark is equally likely to appreciate the price more than the ambience of the shop, which often ends up looking like it’s been ravaged by looters at the end of a busy Saturday.
Here's what Halfords had to say: "At Halfords providing great products and a high level of service is a top priority. Our feedback shows that thousands of customers each week love the help we provide. We are working hard and investing to improve our offer further and to provide an even better experience for customers."
Squeezed budgets
Which? fired a warning shot to the big high street players to up their game, as people are becoming “choosier” about where they spend their money in the face of squeezed household spending and competition from online retailers.
More than half of shoppers admitted they were shopping less than this time last year and 41% of consumers said they preferred to shop online because it is cheaper and easier to compare prices.
The majority of respondents (57%) said they tend to buy more online than they do on the high street.
The winners and losers according to you
Do you agree with the survey? Or should it all be the other way around?
Let us know by leaving your comments in the box below.
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