Service
In the online survey, service is considered
“very important” only for 30 per cent of all
participants. This could be explained by the
fact that shop personnel interact with customers for a very short period of time. As a matter
of fact, service comprises two sub-categories.
First of all, service is the immediate
handling of the customer by employees. Here
we can say that the majority of customers are
satisfied with the overall serving performance.
Second of all, service comprises
waiting time for customers. Concerning
waiting time, significant differences among
our four competitors can be made out.
At Nannarella, customers have to wait
up to 40 minutes at peak times due to the
small size of the parlor. Artisani, Amorino, and
Santini developed a smart queuing system.
The customer has to hand out the money and
buy the product, and afterwards go forward
and be served by other personnel to get the
ice cream. This creates a feeling of being “halfway through” the purchasing process, when
already having paid and just waiting for the
personnel to hand out the product. However,
visiting Santini at peak times, one has to be
very patient. Waiting time can amount up to
30 minutes, which is comparable to customer
waiting time at Nannarella. Amorino has a
lower average waiting time. This is due to the
fact that there are two stores of the brand in a
negligible distance, situated in Baixa and Chiado. In order to be served at Artisani in São
Bento, one has to wait up to 10 minutes on
average. Since the store is primarily known to
Portuguese people, fewer tourists visit the
parlor. This accounts for the fact that waiting
time at Artisani in São Bento is lowest.
Taking all aspects into consideration,
the queuing system at Artisani, Amorino and
Santini can create higher customer satisfaction, namely by reducing waiting time for the
customer. At Nannarella, customers might become a bit nervous after waiting for 20
minutes and not yet having seen the interior
of the store. However, the Santini brand is so
popular that waiting time can be the same as
when visiting the Nannarella store. The two
competitors with the lowest average waiting
time are Amorino and Artisani. The two
brands, thus, have an advantage in that
waiting times do not discourage customers to
go to the stores.
Nonetheless, queues and crowds can
also have a positive impact on attracting new
customers. Considering the survey in front of
the ice cream parlors, some customers stated
that the “effect of the crowd” was a reason for
them to go to Santini. This is especially true
for tourists who are