In the battle between brands and distributors there is another decisive protagonist: The quality of the service

According to data made public by the consumer confidence indicator of the Official Credit Institute (ICO) on October 2009 there has been an increase in household consumption expectations with respect to the same month last year, indicating some optimism on the part of of consumers. In addition, a study by the consulting firm TNS shows that 3 out of 10 consumers have increased their spending by 10% compared to 2008. Both data indicate that, although optimism is returning to consumers, there is still a strong trend to save and keep some caution.

Precisely, as a result of this is occurring an increase in consumption of private labels and an increase in promotions of traditional firms to retain their place and prestige in the market. In the fierce struggle to attract the attention of the consumer both focus on getting the largest number of customers possible in the case of distributors and loyalty in the case of traditional brands.

However, there is a third protagonist in the fight to attract customers. For Mar García Ruiz, general manager of Grass Roots, a British multinational responsible for improving the business results of its customers, “we must bear in mind that people do not move only for the price or for their loyalty to the brand. The quality of service and customer service are two fundamental aspects when selecting a reference establishment “.

For this reason, that smaller supermarket chains or traditional stores maintain brands capable of customer loyalty, in addition to training their staff and providing excellent customer service – being competitive in price – “may end up being a crucial asset with the They can offer a competitive advantage over their competitors in such difficult times as the current ones “García concludes.