The enterprises' offensive in various markets is focused on a. package of "services" that integrates - more than ever before -the observance of terms and vivid contacts between enterprises and customers. Metaphorically, we could say that services renderecommercial service, support logistics, quality of commercial services.

Ioan – Franc Valeriu

Ristea Ana – Lucia

English

Research Papers in Economics

840 
THE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL SERVICES – A BAROMETER OF THE COMPETITIVE 
ADVANTAGE OF THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL MEMBERS 
 
Ristea Ana – Lucia 
“Valahia” University of Târgovişte, risteaanalucia46@yahoo.com 
Ioan – Franc Valeriu 
Romanian Academy, eide@zappmobile.ro 
 
The enterprises’ offensive in various markets is focused on a package of “services” that integrates – more than ever before – 
the observance of terms and vivid contacts between enterprises and customers. Metaphorically, we could say that services 
rendered to customers is a window between the market and the enterprise’s value creations. From this perspective, the quality 
of commercial services is a key factor of success that ensures a competitive advantage to any enterprise opting for a strategy 
focused on expanding and developing the portfolio of services rendered to customers. 
Bringing the commercial services rendered by members of a distribution channel into focus, the authors try to answer - on the 
basis of pertinent bibliographical sources - the following questions: What does the notion of commercial service rendered to 
customers mean? How can we assess the performance of the enterprise (service provider) from this perspective? How can we 
actually measure the performance of the commercial service rendered to customers? 
 
Key words: commercial service, support logistics, quality of commercial services. 
JEL Classification:  D 3; D 4; D 18; L 67; L 8. 
 
1.Specific features of commercial services 
There are many definitions of services, relative to our analysis, but, in our paper, we confine ourselves to the 
concept  of  commercial  services,  i.e.  services  rendered  by  members  of  the  distribution  channel  (mostly 
retailing) to customers. 
Retailers – the last link of the distribution channel – do not confine themselves to only physically placing products 
at the customers’ disposal. They also organize the so-called support logistics (A.-L. Ristea, coordinator, 2002, p. 
403), materialized as commercial services for: 
-  facilitating the selection of merchandise by customers; information about products, consultancy; 
-  improving comfort and ensuring easy purchasing: extended working time, own parking area; 
-  ensuring the best conditions for using the purchased goods: maintenance and post-sale services.  
Among  the  few  authors  who  have  thoroughly  dealt  with  services  rendered  to  customers  by  members  of  the 
distribution channel we find A. Tordjman (1983). He suggested a definition closer to the topic of our paper, which 
considers the commercial service to be the amount of satisfactions and utilities offered by a shop to customers. 
Certain services are directly linked to the sale of the product, others depend on the mode of organisation of the 
shop. 
For this definition, A. Tordjman resorts to T. Levitt’s idea (1969, p.52, reference taken from Maurial, 1990, p.37) 
according to which it is not the product itself that counts to the consumer, but rather the advantages and the 
satisfaction it offers. In other words, Levitt links the notion of service to utility. 
In trying to adapt the notion of utility associated to service, as defined by Tordjman, to the distribution field, Alban 
Maurial (1990, p.38) proposes a definition of services in which the utility to the consumer is considered globally, 
both in the pre-decisional stage (pre-buying) and in the post-decisional stage (post-buying). Thus, commercial 
services are an assembly of commercial services proposed by a distributor to increase the global utility acquired 
when looking for, purchasing or using a product (Alban Maurial, 1990, p.38). This definition places the product  in 
the centre of the consumer-service relation, and introduces a chronology in the process of purchasing the product 
and of consuming the services that accompany it. 
Moreover, the above definition reveals the author’s concern to distinguish between commercial services linked to 
distribution and services associated to the tertiary sector or services included in the product. We agree to this 
opinion and detail further several aspects exclusively linked to commercial services provided by distribution, just 
for assessing correctly to what extent various participants can involve in providing them. 
Commercial services have some specific features that are important for understanding the constraints associated to 
the policies for rendering them through the joint effort of all members of the distribution channel.  
Therefore, we should note the following specific features of the services that could be provided by the distribution 
sector (Ph. Détrie, 2002, p. 48; A. Maurial, 1990, p. 38; A. Tordjman, 1983, p.7). 
1.  Intangibility. It means that: 
a)  the service is partly intangible (therefore, difficult to measure); 
b) the service is seldom specified (the need is implicit and depends on behavioural and cultural criteria and 
on previous experience, which impedes the understanding of the satisfaction criteria considered by the 
customer);  
c)  the service is often included in complex services (difficult assessment of effectiveness). 
 841 
2.  Simultaneity of production and consumption. This feature explains why:  
a)  the  service  cannot  be  stored  (it  is  impossible  to  accumulate  non-used  services  and  also  to  change 
services);  
b) the service is based on a personal relationship (from this, the difficulty to control the behaviour of every 
customer); 
c)  the service may be placed in a strong relational, even emotional, context (difficult to assess). 
3.  Heterogeneity. This feature is shown by the following aspects: 
a)  the service cannot be renewed until being identical, as each situation is different and takes place in a 
unique moment (that is why it is difficult to standardize services, which explains why the production of 
services rarely rises in productivity, when we take intro account, on one hand, the variety of expectations 
and exigencies in the consumption of services, requiring a strong personalisation of rendering and, on the 
other hand, the variety of possible factor combinations in service production and sale);  
b) the service is equally evaluated by outcome and mode of provision (it is difficult to reduce it to basic 
rendering); 
c)  the service requires sometimes the customer’s involvement (this co-produced service hinders ensuring the 
product quality). 
Knowing  the  specific  features  of  commercial  services,  we  understand  it  is  necessary  to  deal  with  physical 
distribution from a systemic perspective, according to which the output materializes in the package of services 
rendered to the client. But the area of services associated to the product trading is complex and consequently not 
easy to define. This complexity is supported by the variety and heterogeneity of services to be proposed throught 
the distribution channel. 
4.  Types of commercial services 
A.  Tordjman tried to summerize the most common criteria for classifying commercial services (Table 1). 
 
Table 1 
Types of services 
Services by 
nature 
Services sold alone 
Services sold with a 
good 
Services by origin  Services by function  Endogenous services 
Exogenous services 
Hiring services:  
car renting 
TV set hiring 
Services  for 
personal 
products:  
car repair 
footwear repair 
Services  linked 
to sales:  
parking 
delivery 
 
1.  Services  sold 
alone:  
insurance 
travel agency 
banking 
2.  Products  sold 
with a good:   
deliveries 
working  hours  and 
days 
 
1.  Services  linked  to 
production:  
intrinsic  services: 
instant soup 
cooked food 
disposable 
handkerchiefs 
services  generated  by 
modern forms of sales: 
conditioning 
presentation  
labelling 
information 
2.  Services  linked  to 
distribution 
functioning schedule 
exchange, crediting 
 
Comfort  or 
psychological 
services:  
selection, proximity 
parking, credit 
baby sitting 
Technical services: 
delivery 
dispatch 
installation 
repair 
Financial services:  
crediting 
exchange office 
credit card 
Paracommercial 
services: 
travel agency 
decoration agency 
 
Endogenous services: 
delivery 
repair 
mending 
Exogenous services:  
Comfort  or 
psychological services 
financial services 
paracommercial 
services 
 
Fields of response to each type 
Sectoral analysis 
of services 
Analysis  of  the 
services  sector  and 
of  commercial 
services 
The  issue  of  vertical 
competition 
Action  variables  of 
horizontal 
competition 
Decription  of  the 
organisation  of  the 
point of sale 
Source: Tordjman, A., 1983, p. 18. 
 
We find another way of dealing with types of commercial services in A. Maurial (1990, pp. 47-49). This typology 
is coherent with the definition he provided for distribution services, which definition we adopt for scientific reasons 
and promote it, as stated above. This typology (Table 2) distinguishes services by four chronologically ordered 
stages of buying a product: 842 
1. services of access to the product; 
2. services of information concerning the product; 
3. services concerning the purchase of the product; 
4. services for the utilisation of the product. 
 
Table 2 
Types of commercial services by buying stages 
1. Services of access to the product  2. Services of information concerning the product 
·  Proximity 
·  Parking 
·  Extended working hours 
·  Freedom of movement inside the shops 
·  Systems of publicity at the point of sale 
·  Playing places for children 
·  Brasserie 
·  Toilets 
·  Presentation by type of product 
·  Information labelling 
·  Quality labels 
·  Presence of trademarks 
·  Advice from shop-assistants 
·  Advice for decoration 
·  Diagnosis at home 
·  Product testing at home 
·  Catalogue 
3. Services concerning the purchase of the product  4. Services for the utilisation of the product 
·  Promotion 
·  Reception of old (worn) goods 
·  Credit/credit card/distributor card 
·  Stock availability 
·  Selection of the mode of delivery 
·  Transport means 
·  Observance of the delivery term 
·  Mail sales 
·  Replacement or reimbursement of the sold product 
·  Assemblage at home 
·  Assembling instructions 
·  Post-sale guarantee 
·  Post-sale assistance 
·  Product checking 
Source: Processed after Maurial, A., 1990, pp. 48-49. 
 
Unlike other approaches to types of services, the typology proposed by Maurial is based on the place of services in 
the buying process, which offers some analytical advantages: 
-  It takes into account the consumer’s real behaviour, in order of service consumption. 
-  It  places  the  product  at  the  core  of  any  service  policy,  including  the  gradual  evolution  of  the 
consumer/product/service relationship. 
-  It ensures a dynamic dimension to the analysis of services. 
-  It covers all range of services that can associate both horizontally and vertically. 
-  It is an operational tool for assessing and implementing the policies for services to the consumer. 
 
3. The quality of commercial services 
The quality of commercial services should be analysed, in accordance with the need for a systemic approach, in 
relation to the modules of the quality management to which it pertains. Ph. Détrie (2002, p. 24) defines four 
components of the quality: 
a)  The quality of definition. It implies the identification and interpretation of the target customers’ needs 
in accordance with the performance to be achieved as per specifications: technical characteristics, 
aesthetic, delivery period, security, price, etc. 
b)  The quality of design. It refers to solutions for achieving the expected performance. 
c)  The quality of service provision. It refers to solutions applied in accordance with specifications and in 
due time. 
d)  The quality of services. It assesses the complementary services expected by the client: information, 
advice, personalisation, post-sale services, time, accessibility, etc. 
This global approach is required by the paradigm of the quality management that ensures the transition from the 
traditional approach to quality to:  
a) mastering the quality of rendering services (the quality of management, which spreads through the whole 
enterprise  –  the  identification  of  needs,  responses,  the  production  of  goods  and  services,  the  provision  of  a 
confidence environment);  
b) the discipline of conformity (the quality management requires four behaviours – concern, creativeness, rigour 
of conformity, care for service) (Ph. Détrie, 2002, p. 25).  
 
 843 
The implementation of the management of commercial services quality faces serious problems frequently caused 
by: 
·  Uneasy  assessment  of  quality  because  of  the  specific  features  of  commercial  services  (intangibility, 
simultaneity of production and consumption, heterogeneity); 
·  The postulate that a service is just a matter of behaviour; in fact we should not ignore the requirements for 
implementing standards, procedures, etc. in conditions of adequate endowment; 
·  The collective mastering of a process since most problems are actually relational; 
·  Lack of training in the quality field; the performance in rendering services is dependent on: professional 
competence, care for the customer, organisational competence. A new employee meets the requirements 
for professional competence, but sometimes he acquires knowledge about the customer and organisational 
culture on an empirical basis. 
 
4. Indicators for measuring the quality of commercial services 
For measuring the quality of services, we use several indicators, established for each of the following components 
of the quality of services, analysed with a view to achieving a certain quality level: 
·  Basic provision of services: the specifications indicating the competence, the equipment and/or material 
means. 
·  Accessibility to the provider: place, working hours, parking, facilities. 
·  Relationship: reception, contact, listening, availability, competence, personalisation. 
·  Information: pertinence, clarity, accuracy, velocity. 
·  Consultancy: pertinence, value added. 
·  Observance of delivery terms: announced terms. 
·  Environment: equipment, room, comfort, ambient conditions. 
·  Cost: purchasing price and cost of possession. 
An indicator for measuring the quality, in general, and services, in particular, is an instrument for assessing the 
achievement of an objective, the progress made in an activity, the knowledge of the influence of variations of a 
phenomenon.  As  regards  the  particular  features  of  commercial  services  –  besides  essential  criteria  such  as 
punctuality, absence of defects or availability – we should also opt for criteria that could be perceived by the 
customer. The reason is shifting from a criterion of performance/conformity of production (e.g., the proportion of 
durables  receiving  services  during  the  guarantee  period,  the  rate  of  defects,  availability)  to  the  criterion  of 
perception of a service experienced by the customer (waiting time, the presence of an interlocutor, the perceived 
cleanliness of an area). 
As regards commercial services, all measurement indicators should focus on the customer: number or proportion of 
customers who were negatively influenced due to non-compliance with service specification.  
Ph. Détrie (2002, p. 375) indicates three stages for establishing pertinent and relevant indicators for measuring the 
quality of commercial services: 
1.  Defining the reference service by three elements: customers’ expectations; for similar services, the 
quality level provided by other competitors; the strategy of the enterprise. 
2.  Establishing a level of exigence: 100% of the customers? Or, at least?  
3.  Establishing, possibly, a level of alertness: when reaching the threshold, an alert is called and a decision 
is taken for corrective and/or preventive action. 
Table 3 includes a list of indicators that could become a quality barometer (for a hypermarket or a supermarket). 
Table 3 
A list of indicators forming the quality barometer for large commercial areas 
Internal indicators 
1.  Ensuring the assortment 
·  Stock level 
·  Available products of the required model, colour, size and selection desired 
·  Proportion of stock shortages 
·  Proportion of obsolescent stocks 
·  Accuracy of sale prediction 
·  Proportion of damaged merchandise, of returned deliveries 
2.  Accessibility/Exploration 
·  Products available in the shop 
·  Reasonable time for finding products 
3.  Services to customers 
·  Adequate number of shop assistants 
·  Waiting time at counters 
·  Shop assistants’/personnel’s attitude 844 
·  Observance of the regulations for consumers’ protection 
·  Indoor aspect of the shop 
·  Number of disputes with customers 
4.  Availability and utilisation of information concerning 
·  Real stocks and optimum stocks 
·  Characteristics of the products 
·  Price structure 
·  Service conditions 
External indicators 
·  Satisfaction to customers with regard to selling/buying and complementary services 
offered 
·  Array of post-sale services 
·  The global barometer of buyers’ satisfaction (by panels of buyers) 
 
 
Bibliography 
1.D TRIE, Philippe. (2002). Conduire une démarche qualité, Paris:  dition d’Organisation. 
2.LEVITT, T., Improving sales trough product augmentation, European Business, April 1969, p. 52 
3.MAURIAL, Alban. (1990). La relation consommateur. Le cas du meuble, Paris:  ditions d’Organisation.  
4.RISTEA,  A.-L.  (coordinator);  IOAN-FRANC,  V.;  TĂNĂSESCU,  D.;  TOMA,  A.;  TOPI A,  M.  (2002). 
Marketing. Premise şi provocări ale economiei înalt competitive, Bucureşti: Editura Expert. 
5.TORDJMAN, André, Le commerce en Europe, Marketing and Merchandising World Forum, Nice, oct. 1993. 
6.TORDJMAN,  André.  (1982).  Les  services  de  la  distribution,  une  analyse  verticale  et  horizontale  de  la 
concurrence  dans  le  commerce,  Thèse  de  doctorat  de  gestion,  Paris  I  -  Sorbonne  şi  (1983).  Stratégies  de 
concurrence dans le commerce. Les services au consommateur, Paris:  ditions d’Organisation. 
 
   

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Improving sales trough product augmentation,

La relation consommateur. Le cas du meuble, Paris: ditions d’Organisation.

Le commerce en Europe, Marketing and Merchandising World Forum,

Les services de la distribution, une analyse verticale et horizontale de la concurrence dans le commerce, Thèse de doctorat de gestion, Paris I - Sorbonne şi

Marketing. Premise şi provocări ale economiei înalt competitive, Bucureşti: Editura Expert.

THE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL SERVICES – A BAROMETER OF THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL MEMBERS

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THE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL SERVICES – A BAROMETER OF THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL MEMBERS

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