News & Events

ICC/Decision Services Publishes Results of Rx-cellence Benchmark Study

New York City —Independent grocers surpass national and regional chains in pharmacy performance
according to a six-part survey of the nation’s top national, regional, independent and
specialty grocers. Conducted by ICC/Decision Services and drawing on 100,000 data
points, the STRONG study is a year-long analysis of how pharmacies rank in the key
areas of Suggestive Selling, Technology, Rx-cellence, Outstanding customer service,
Nutritional and Guide to social media. In the latest installment of the study (measuring
Rx-cellence), “Independents showed the highest rate of service in all aspects of
pharmacy interactions, including acknowledging customers in line, greeting them at
the service counter, fielding questions, and even escorting customers to products,”
according to Progressive Grocer, which published the results.

According to David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services: “These metrics bear
out the adage that the best independent retailers can be ‘small enough to know you and
big enough to serve you.’” But, Rich continues, there are readily available tools for larger
grocers who want to see their pharmacies deliver improved service. Implementing a
documented training program that is reviewed with new and current associates, as well
as ongoing measurement of said practices can positively impact service, and as a result,
deepen customer loyalty. “

About ICC/Decision Services

ICC/Decision Services is a privately held company headquartered in New York City
serving customers around the world. Since 1979 we have offered hands-on experience
designing and executing highly successful Customer Experience Management programs.
Together our management team has more than a century of expertise developing
creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands such as Foot Locker,
Coach, Forever 21, CVS, and Walmart. For more information: www.iccds.com

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Back-To-School Study: Shopping In-Store Is Cheaper And More Convenient Than Shopping Online

In test of online vs. in-store experience by STELLAService and ICC/Decision Services, back-to-school customers saved $21 in-store. Office Depot surpassed competition both online and off

New York City — As the $83.8 billion back-to-school shopping season kicks in, a new independent study reveals that while shopping online may save customers some time, a trip to the mall can pay off in savings as well as overall convenience.

The STELLAService study, its first-ever evaluation of online versus in-store shopping, comes on the heels of a consumer survey from the National Retail Federation showing that two out of five back-to-school shoppers will do their shopping online this year — nearly double the number from five years ago.

The STELLAService study compared online versus in-store shopping experiences for Target, Walmart, Costco, Staples, Office Max, and Office Depot, with mystery shoppers hitting stores throughout the U.S. and shipping online orders to both coasts and the Midwest. Both online and off, Office Depot outperformed its rivals, excelling across a spectrum of criteria such as pricing, customer service, shipping, and more.

On average, it took online shoppers only 10 minutes to complete their shopping lists and check out, while getting the same items in-store took about 30 minutes. However, brick-and-mortar shoppers left the store with something to smile about: they paid an average of $21 less than online shoppers, whose total included an average $10.81 in online shipping costs.

Surprisingly, shoppers reported more difficulty finding certain items online than in stores, many of which featured user-friendly back-to-school layouts. Also, online orders were occasionally shipped piecemeal, with items arriving one at a time instead of in a single shipment.

“STELLAService is a champion of online shopping, but we were surprised to find that in the back-to-school market, customers were ultimately better off getting in their cars and heading to the mall for the best possible experience,” said STELLAService CEO Jordy Leiser. “While online retailers do win hands-down when it comes to saving their customers time, there’s still a lot of room for improvement if they want to compete with their brick-and-mortar counterparts.”

STELLAService studied online stores to compare price, product availability, total time spent shopping and checking out, shipping speed and quality, e-mail, phone, and live-chat support, and overall experience. In-store, according to David Rich, whose company ICC/Decision Services mystery shopped the brick and mortar retailers, the study measured total time spent shopping and checking out, quality of customer service, whether (and how quickly) a customer service agent initiated service, whether there was a customer service desk, the availability of in-store pickup for online purchases, price, and overall experience.

Highlights of the study include:

• Shopping Time: If time is money, online shopping does have its advantages. The average online shopping trip lasted around 10 minutes, while in-store shopping took about 30 minutes—not including travel time.
• Check-out Time: Surprisingly, the difference in online versus brick-and-mortar checkout times was negligible, partly because the stores sampled haven’t yet mastered the one-click checkout options offered by gold-standard internet retailers like Amazon.com.
• Delivery Time: In-store shopping offered the obvious advantage of allowing customers to walk out of the door with their goodies. The average online purchase took four days to arrive, sometimes piecemeal — one order from Wal-Mart, filled by marketplace partner Wayfair.com, arrived at the shopper’s home in five boxes over the course of 8 days.
• Selection: While online retailers might be expected to offer a much wider selection, most brick-and-mortar stores were able to compete, with the exception of bulk retailer Costco. Target.com customers, meanwhile, often had better luck finding specific items at their local store than online.
• Price: In-store shopping won the price war hands down, with customers who hoofed it to the mall paying an average of $21 less than online shoppers for the same basket of 13 basic school supplies. Shipping costs were a factor, but at an average of $10.81 per customer, that only accounted for half of the discrepancy.

“If you’re willing to pay up and be patient with delivery times, shopping online is a reasonable choice,” said STELLAService CEO Jordy Leiser. “However, if you’re looking for savings and want to avoid the frustrations associated with shipping, you might want to venture out to an office supply store nearby.”

STELLAService is an independent company that measures and rates the customer service performance of online retailers. Leveraging a nationwide network of full-time mystery shoppers, STELLAService evaluates thousands of retailers each year using more than 350 metrics, from the quality of live customer support to the speed of refunds.

About STELLAService
Dedicated to helping consumers make more informed online shopping decisions, STELLAService is the only independent provider of customer service ratings for online retailers. The company leverages a nationwide network of full-time mystery shoppers to evaluate each site undercover, ensuring findings that are unbiased and true to the shopping experience. STELLAService evaluates thousands of retailers each year using more than 350 metrics, from the quality of live customer support to the speed of refunds.

About ICC/Decision Services
ICC/Decision Services is a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers around the world. Since 1979 we have offered hands-on experience designing and executing highly successful Customer Experience Management programs. Together our management team has more than a century of expertise developing creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands such as L.L. Bean, Coach, H&M, CVS, and Walmart. For more information: www.iccds.com

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ICC/Decision Services Study Finds Retailers Falling Short On Customer Experience Management

ICC/Decision Services, an international Customer Experience Management firm based in New York City, recently concluded a survey across 381 chain retailers to determine the current state of measuring the customer experience. The study went across channels in the retail vertical, and included, but what was not limited to the apparel, supermarket, specialty, office supply and mass merchant sectors.

Based off the findings, ICC/Decision Services has determined that 56% of shoppers measure the customer experience via customer satisfaction surveys for customers who made a purchase (receipt invitation) and 51% via mystery shopping (trained observers); however only 34% actually implement both methods to gather subjective and objective data from both viewpoints. This research highlights an obvious reality: Companies have taken the initiative to put in place metrics in evaluating the customer experience but they are falling short in terms of understanding the full picture. Ultimately how an improved customer experience leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty rates with a direct correlation to increased sales.

“Mystery shopping is used to help understand the gaps between where performance is and where it needs to be” says David Rich, President and CEO of ICC/Decision Services. “Once that gap is closed,” continues Rich, “customer satisfaction will increase, missed revenue opportunities identified and both the customer and the retailer will win. With the economy as uncertain as ever, getting closer to the customer is more imperative than ever to maximizing your competitive edge.”

About ICC/Decision Services

ICC/Decision Services is a privately held company headquartered in New
York City serving customers around the world. Since 1979 we have offered
hands-on experience designing and executing highly successful Customer
Experience Management programs. Together our management team has more
than a century of expertise developing creative solutions for some of the
world’s leading retail brands such as L.L. Bean, Coach, H&M, CVS, and
Walmart. For more information: www.iccds.com

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The Future of Social Media in Mystery Shopping

David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, will speak on October 18-20. The MSPA (Mystery Shopper Providers Association) will be conducting their 13th annual conference in Atlanta. The panel will discuss the future of social media in mystery shopping. The panel discussion will be held from 1:30 pm, to 3:00pm on Oct 19, 2011. Social media has created a revolution, and an evolution. The decisions that were only available to those in corporate offices is now decided directly by consumers. These changes have not only changed the customer service experience in retail, but social media has also changed the mystery shopping experience as well.

The discussion panel will share how social media will become an increasing part of the mystery shopping reporting experience. The experts will also discuss the ever-increasing changes in social media, and in SEO (search engine optimization). The mystery shopping companies will learn how to use social media, in order to gain new clients, and to keep their clients satisfied.

Many companies are realizing that in order to keep their customers satisfied in today’s economy, simply creating new advertising on products isn’t enough anymore. Times are hard economically, and retailers are having to work extremely hard to earn the trust of the customer, to create more revenue income. Keeping the customers happy, and going out of their way to engage customers is the way the many retailers are staying alive in a very tough economy. Learning how to leverage the information gained from social media and mystery shopping combined will help businesses to provide the type of customer satisfaction experience that will create return business, when other businesses are failing, and closing their doors. This conference will address all these issues, and more, to help retailers to stay competitive, and thriving.

David Rich is the President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers across North America. David has spent close to two decades in the retail and customer experience management and, as President and CEO of ICC, he develops creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands in many of the largest retail vertical markets.

ABOUT ICC/DECISION SERVICES
ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools. Clients include Coach, 7-11, L.L. Bean, Rite Aid, Eddie Bauer, Foot Locker, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 561 7th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10018, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. E-mail: info@iccds.com. More information is available at http://www.iccds.com

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ICC President & CEO David Rich to Speak at St. Joseph’s Food Industry Summit 2011

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 4, 2011 David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, will speak at the fifth annual Food Industry Summit next week. This year’s summit theme is “Sales and Profit Growth through Direct Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce.” David will address how social media is more than a department or even strategy, but a way in which customers will connect and grow with brands and retailers.

Saint Joseph’s University’s internationally renowned food marketing program is hosting the annual one-day food summit to gain insights on marketplace issues and developments from industry leaders. Other speakers in addition to Rich, include: Tim Hassett, Senior Vice President, Sales, Campbell North America; Carl Schlicker, Chief Operating Officer, Ahold USA; Rick Chavie, Vice President, Solutions Marketing, NCR Retail Group; Bill Sickles, Global Business Head, Google Inc; Rick Brindle, Customer VP for E-Sales and Industry Affairs, Kraft Foods; and Dan Sanders, President, ACME Markets – A SUPERVALU Company.

David Rich is the President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers across North America. David has spent close to two decades in the retail and customer experience management and, as President and CEO of ICC, he develops creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands in many of the largest retail vertical markets.
About ICC/Decision Services

ABOUT ICC/DECISION SERVICES
ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools. Clients include Coach, 7-11, L.L. Bean, Rite Aid, Eddie Bauer, Foot Locker, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 561 7th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10018, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. E-mail: info@iccds.com. More information is available at http://www.iccds.com

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ICC/Decision Services Partners with STELLAService to Launch E-Shops

Will Provide a Customer Service Benchmarking and Competitive Intelligence Program for Online Retailers

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 10, 2011 — ICC/Decision Services is proud to announce a new partnership with STELLAService, the authority for measuring and benchmarking online customer service performance. David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, explains: “STELLAService is the most trusted provider of customer service evaluation programs for Internet retailers. The opportunity to team up with STELLAService to deploy the E-Shops business solution, in conjunction with the brick and mortar analysis we already provide to some of the world’s most recognized brands, will allow us to offer a genuine 360 degree view of the customer experience to our current and future client base.”

Jordy Leiser, CEO and Co-Founder of STELLAService, agrees. “This partnership offers online retailers unique and compelling insight into their online customer service performance while simultaneously benchmarking that performance against their peers. In today’s marketplace, the competitive advantage lies with those who continuously evaluate and obsess over the online customer experience. From website features to shipping, delivery, and returns metrics to customer support capabilities and performance, the leaders in e-commerce closely monitor their service proposition and how it stacks up to the competition. Working with ICC/Decision Services to combine our comprehensive approach with its time-tested process of measuring and reporting on customer experience data will enable retailers to gain crucial insight into the quality and consistency of their online service.”

About ICC/Decision Services
ICC/Decision Services is a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers around the world. Since 1979 we have offered hands-on experience designing and executing highly successful Customer Experience Management programs. Together our management team has more than a century of expertise developing creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands such as L.L. Bean, Coach, H&M, CVS, and Walmart. For more information visit: www.iccds.com.

About STELLAService
STELLAService is the first and only company dedicated to measuring and benchmarking online customer service performance. The invaluable data obtained by STELLAService is used by consumers to make more informed online purchasing decisions and by companies to obtain crucial business and industry intelligence. More information can be found at: www.stellaservice.com.

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New Study Reveals Missed Opportunities For Retailers

New Retail Benchmark Study Reveals Opportunity To Increase Conversion This 2010 Holiday Season

In a first of its kind retail benchmark study, ICC/Decision Services visited over 50 retailers across the categories of apparel, department store, electronics, home improvement, toy, specialty and sporting goods to measure their readiness for the holiday season. From October 26 through November 18, 2010, ICC/Decision Services conducted 1621 nationwide store visits to assess sales helpfulness and employee service. The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts a 2010 holiday sales increase of 2.3 percent. But, argues David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, “retailers are still leaving millions on the table.”

In areas such as greeting and thanking customers, and cleanliness, for instance, the majority of retailers scored well, which indicates store associates are focusing on the customer experience. However, in other key areas such as explaining promotions, suggesting additional items, and determining customer needs, many retailers are underperforming. For instance, suggestive selling occurred only 43.7% of the time on average across all 1621 store visits. “Associates may be handling customers graciously,” says Rich, “but they are not converting that relationship into sales.”

The top performing retailer was Yankee Candle, which earned an overall score of 92.8 out of 100, achieving a selling score of 87.8 and a service score of 97.8. Lowest performing segments of the marketplace included sporting goods, department stores and toy departments. Retailers visited included: Aeropostale (ARO), Ann Taylor (ANN), Best Buy (BBY), Build-A-Bear (BBW), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Game Stop (GME), Gap (GPS), J. Crew (JCG), Kohl’s (KSS), Macy’s (M), Nordstrom (JWN), Office Depot (ODP), Sears (SHLD), TJ Maxx (TJX), Target (TGT), Toys “R” Us (TOY), and more.

For a summary of the “Retailer Behavioral Outlook for 2010 Holiday Season” or go to this link: http://www.iccds.com/benchmarks

About ICC/Decision Services:

ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools, including mystery shopping, store audits, customer feedback and employee satisfaction surveys. Clients include Coach, 7-11, L.L. Bean, CVS, Foot Locker, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 561 7th Avenue New York, NY 10018, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. E-mail: info@iccds.com.

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ICC/Decision Services Launches Springboard Process Ensuring Successful, Results-Driven Customer Experience Programs

ICC/Decision Services, a NYC-based international Customer Experience Management company which counts many major North American retailers as clients, announces the launch of its Springboard Process today. Designed to provide the tools necessary for the successful launch and implementation of customer experience programs, the Springboard Process gives companies the confidence they need to embark on their customer experience programs.

“What gets measured gets done,” says Rich. And after years of observing many ineffective programs which resulted in frustration for agencies, brands and retailers and, in some cases, reluctance to start over without a structured process in place, ICC/Decision Services has created The Springboard Process to take the guess work out of launching critical customer experience programs such as shopper intercepts, secret shopping, retail audits, customer satisfaction and employee engagement surveys.

The process begins with an initial meeting where executives are introduced to their personal Customer Experience Team from ICC/DS Quality Assurance, IT and Account Management departments. The new team works together to establish goals, develop surveys and determine the proper frequency and sample sizes of tests to be conducted. The process continues as ICC/Decision Services runs test shops and reviews proposed programs before a full-scale launch. Customized Enterprise Reporting sites created for each client means data is delivered according to their needs and preferences.

“The Springboard Process assures that data gathered will lead to actionable results and provides real value,” says Rich. For more information about the Springboard Process and ICC/Decision Services visit www.iccds.com

About ICC/Decision Services
ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools, including mystery shopping, store audits, customer feedback and employee satisfaction surveys. Clients include Coach, 7-11, L.L. Bean, CVS, Foot Locker, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 561 7th Avenue New York, NY 10018, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. E-mail: info@iccds.com.

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ICC President & CEO David Rich to Speak at In-Store Marketing Summit

David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, will speak at the sold out In-Store Marketing Summit next week. Appearing with Jim Fuqua, Director of In-Store Experience at SUPERVALU, David & Jim will look at how to measure and impact the true ROI of every program; and how to engage and delight shoppers (and retail partners) every time. Want to know how are you “measuring up” when it comes to executing in-store demos and retail events and who is best in class? David will show examples of who is excelling and who is falling short and why; and will share recent analytics commissioned by ICC/Decision Services exclusively for the In-Store Marketing Institute measuring the in-store experience over a 90-day period in supermarket and mass merchant channels nationwide.

The In-Store Marketing Summit is the premier educational conference for agencies, CPGs, retailers and P-O-P producers looking to improve their retail marketing strategy.

David Rich is the President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers across North America. David has spent close to two decades in the retail and customer experience management and, as President and CEO of ICC, he develops creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands in many of the largest retail vertical markets.

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ICC/Decision Services Launches Second of its iPhone Applications – ConversionCalc

The latest in iPhone applications shows retailers the dollar value resulting from increasing their conversion rates.

ICC/Decison Services’ latest in iPhone applications shows retailers the dollar value resulting from increasing their conversion rates. ConversionCalc™ is the second of its iPhone applications available for free download on iTunes. ICC’s existing application, the UpSellCall™, was the first of its kind in the industry when it was launched this past summer. ICC/Decison Services is an international customer experience management company based in New York City.

Field management loves our calculators because they are portable and easily show store management the power of associate behavior. “We received great feedback on the UpSell Calc, our first application,” says David Rich, President/CEO of ICC/Decision Services. “Field management loves our calculators because they are portable and easily show store management the power of associate behavior. Corporate loves them because they point to increased revenue. It takes so much to get customers in the door in today’s marketplace,” continues Rich, “but many retailers don’t realize that increasing your conversion rates by only 2% can increase revenue by 10%. The ConversionCalc™ will quantify that lost opportunity for retailers and can produce calculations for a single store, district or the entire retail chain.”

Other features of the ConversionCalc™ include: easy one-screen operation; allows calculations over multiple time periods (days, months, quarters, etc); reveals the true dollar amount for increased associate performance.

Click here for more “ConversionCalc” conversion rates information, iPhone applications and download links.

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