Standards such as assortment, convenience, price and service still hold sway with the spending public and likely always will. The importance of each of these consumer expectations on particular buying missions. For furniture or white goods people need service, both in the sale and after-sale areas such as delivery. For each class of trade, different hot buttons apply. It s unfair to evaluate wholesale club service on the same basis as Nordstrom.
Different rules apply all the time.
But across classes, categories and products there s a new set of performance standards emerging. Some may call these more personalized criteria. Others would say they re pragmatic concerns. As a result, the CRA winners are chains that are best in class. While size and geographic scope no doubt can play a part in securing consumer votes, the survey shows that a strong regional player can beat national chains.