Abstract:
This study was about factors that influence the preference for retail outlets (supermarkets) by consumers in Kisii Town and the relative importance of such factors. The major objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence consumers' choice of the supermarket to patronize. Other specific objectives included, ranking the identified factors in order of their importance, to determine consumers' supermarket loyalty status and to find if demographic characteristics of consumers who patronized specific supermarkets was related to loyalty. To achieve this, a sample of 120 supermarket customers in all the eight supermarkets existing in Kisii town was selected using systematic sampling. The study utilized survey research and descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. From the research the following were ranked as eight most important factors in influencing patronage: Adequate number of cashiers to reduce queuing, reasonable prices of products, employees' courtesy and warmth with customers, knowledgeable employees, display and arrangement of merchandise, convenient operating hours, availability of all types of merchandise and channel for customer complaints. It was also found out that consumers in Kisii town were loyal to specific supermarkets, however there was no evidence to prove that consumers' demographics influenced loyalty. In conclusion retailers should gear their marketing efforts towards satisfying consumers in order to influence their patronage decisions.
