In a bid to gauge the level of customer service offered by hardware shops across its corporate membership, Home Hardware recently carried out a mystery shopper campaign.

All corporate stores were invited to take part in the two mystery shopper surveys, which took place over the summer months. The emphasis of the two visits were to concentrate on customer service, providing each store with detailed reports to use as a valuable learning tool. Home Hardware used the professional services of Aba Quality Monitoring Ltd for the exercise.

Said Home Hardware ceo Martin Elliott: "We take our Customer Service Charter very seriously, and believe that great service is undoubtedly something that makes our independent retailers stand out from the crowd, in what is after all, a challenging and competitive environment.  It’s no secret that the key to great service is enthusiastic, committed and well trained staff.  We were particularly pleased with the overall standard and the across the board improvement since we last carried out a mystery shopper campaign.”

At the recent Home Hardware Corporate Members Conference a prize of £250 was given to the shop team with the best results for the combined visits. This went to JAC Stores Home Hardware based in Ramsey on the Isle of Man.

Said JAC store director Chris Blatcher, " As a family business, we were absolutely delighted to receive this recognition of our team’s efforts. Customer service is a key focus for all of our JAC Store’s branches and is what can differentiate us from other retailers. We are very proud of our staff who work tirelessly to continue to give our customers the service that we strive to so hard to achieve.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Home Hardware for their support as we feel that the Corporate Membership of Home Hardware is another family that provides a huge amount of support for our stores.”