Customer satisfaction within pharmacies in a supermarket: a South African perspective

Abstract

South Africa is experiencing an expansion of pharmacy chains. Globalization and deregulations have increased competition within the retail pharmacy sector. In this highly competitive sector, the most important strategy for a pharmacy chain to obtain customer satisfaction and maintain market profitability is attributed to customer-focus. The aim of this paper was to investigate customer satisfaction at a pharmacy chain in South Africa. A total of 400 customers completed the survey using a questionnaire. All the service quality dimensions in the customers’ survey contain negative mean gap scores. From these findings, the pharmacy chain can identify specific gaps in the service quality dimensions and seek to close them. Service quality dimensions that are deemed to be good predictors of customer satisfaction have been related to factors relating to tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The retail pharmacy chain should address these dimensions in its attempt to offer superior customer service. The recommendations would provide other pharmacies within a supermarket with knowledge to address possible shortcomings and improve the service levels.