Managing consumer complaints: differences and similarities among heterogeneous retailers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is threefold: to examine complaint management among retailers in order to develop a typology of their strategic complaint management system; to develop a profile of each retailer group included in the typology using a set of key relevant variables (e.g. company size, perceived customer dissatisfaction); and to investigate the state of complaint management across different types of retailers.Design methodology approach - Data are collected from an online survey of Danish and Swedish grocery retailers, electronic stores, car-dealers, and furniture stores (n=260) using self-administered questionnaires.Findings - Cluster analysis identifies two clusters of retailers: non-active complaint handlers and medium-active complaint handlers. Medium-active complaint handlers regard complaint handling as having higher strategic relevance than non-active complaint handlers and also, medium-active complaint handlers were more inclined to compensate the complaining customers for the loss they might have experienced. The developed cluster profiles revealed that medium-active complaint handlers perceive a higher degree of customer dissatisfaction than do non-active complaint handlers and also that a larger proportion of their customers have complained. Within retailers, grocery stores had the best compensation policies and the most positive attitude toward retailer-customer interaction, while car dealers are the most likely to have a strategic plan to deal with complaints.Practical implications - The results obtained in this paper indicate that retailers hesitate from inciting customers to complain. This is unfortunate, as dissatisfied customers should be regarded as a strategic asset, which potentially could provide retailers with important knowledge concerning their products and services and thereby helping retailers in improving their market place behaviour.Originality value - No other research has looked across different types of retailers to determine if there are differences in the integration of complaints to the strategic management process.