Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Gregory Uche

Abstract

The use of strategy to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience by retail managers is essential in driving sales revenue and increasing profitability. Retail managers should perceive customer experience strategy as a tool for product differentiation, which could be leveraged to attain benefits, such as, repeat business, positive word of mouth, increased sales, and the competitive advantage. Some retail managers may not fully comprehend customer experience strategy, and may solely focus on individual facets such as, customer service and employee training. This qualitative multiple case study explored the strategies retail managers used to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience. Olivier's confirmation- expectation theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Ten retail managers from Castries, St. Lucia, who performed their roles for a minimum of 4 years, were selected to participate in semistructured interviews using purposive sampling. Data was also collected from company documents, such as, merchandising policy, the company's website, and past campaign fliers. Three of the themes that arose from the thematic analysis of interview data and company documents were, building and sustaining brand loyalty, store image, and competitive advantage. Findings from this research may contribute to positive social change by providing retail managers a better understanding of customer experience and brand loyalty strategies as additional avenues to achieving operational results such as increased sales revenue, improved sales margins, and increased profitability. Local communities may experience increased employment opportunities, enhanced business activity, and increased tax receipts.

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