Customer Satisfaction in the Retail Sector of Botswana

Texila International Journal of Management ISSN: 2520-310X DOI: 10.21522/TIJMG.2015.08.01.Art001 Customer Satisfaction in the Retail Sector of Botswana Misani Sephetsolo Ph.D. in Management, Texila American University, Botswana, Gaborone Abstract This paper examined the level of customer satisfaction within the retail sector of Botswana. In making this examination, the paper utilised the large retail chain stores, specifically, Choppies, PnP, Shoprite, and Spar, within Gaborone. This means that this paper undertook a survey concentrating on 4 retail giants in Botswana from which a sample of 750 customers was sampled using convenience sampling for participation in the study. The findings from this study show that the level of customer satisfaction in Botswana was good (rating score = 3.87/5). The significant contributors to customer satisfaction were gender, product quality, product diversity, pricing, responsiveness, design and appearance, and customer experience. The paper recommended that retailers focus on strategic pricing for enhanced customer satisfaction in the sector, adopt quality and diversity-centric policies, and adopt robust customer knowledge management and customer experience management. Keywords: Age, Appearance, Customer service, Customer experience, Customer satisfaction, Design, Gender, Location, Product quality, Pricing, Product diversity, Responsiveness. Introduction experience and the creation of value for the customers [4]. The retail sector is one of the many business sectors whose success is predicated not only on its ability to offer goods and services to the customers but also on its ability to satisfy the diverse needs of the customers [5]. In this regard, the retail sector exists to offer goods and services and do so in a satisfactory manner which in essence means that the success of players within the sector rests on the ability of the retailers to offer optimal customer satisfaction [6]. While the food and grocery retailing sector is part of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, it is essential to underscore that globally, the sector is highly competitive, and survival is service delivery and customer satisfaction based [7]. Effective service delivery within the FMCG sector depends on how the retailers understand their customers' needs and satisfactorily deliver on them based on their level and quality of customer knowledge [8]. The global business community has, in the recent past, revolutionized the extent to which organizations currently concern themselves with issues around going concerned first before growth and profitability [1]. With this in mind, service organizations across the geographical and sectoral divide can differentiate themselves from their competitors based on the quality of the service they deliver [2]. A Study [3] argues that customer satisfaction and quality of service delivery are twin paths when it comes to creating value for both the organization and the customers. The author observed that a retailing organization that offers poor quality of service risks losing its credibility and erodes its confidence in the eyes of the customers. The impact of this is reflected in the poor customer satisfaction returns. While the retailers are concerned with offering goods and services to their diverse customers, their survival and profitability are tied to the customer Received: 17.09.2021 Accepted: 14.11.2021 Published on: 28.02.2022 Corresponding Author: [email protected] 1 H4: Product diversity has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H5: Product pricing has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H6: Responsiveness of the organization has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H7: The location of the retail outlets has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H8: Physical design and appearance of the retail outlet have a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H9: Customer experience has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. Therefore, the retail sector is such that the retailing organizations capitalize on their relationships with their clients, which is a function of the level of customer experience and the subsequent level of customer satisfaction [8]. In the context of Botswana, retailing is regarded as the second largest provider of employment after the mining sector and, in the same manner, contributes significantly (approximately 29%) to the country’s GDP [9]. In this regard, approximately 40.5% of the informal sector businesses in Botswana are found within the retail and wholesale trade [10]. The dominant players within the country’s FCMG food and groceries sector are large retail chain supermarkets such as Pick n Pay, Choppies, Shoprite, Spar, Woolworths, and Game. These jointly control a significant portion of the market. In this study, the level of customer satisfaction was assessed using customers within the significant chain retail stores of Botswana, given the geographical presence and the size of the market that these control. Literature Review theoretical Framework This resource-based theory is the theoretical foundation anchoring this study. According to [11], the resource-based theory argues that possessing strategic resources provides an organization with a golden opportunity to develop competitive advantages over its rivals. These competitive advantages, in turn, can help the organization enjoy significant profits. According to [12], a strategic resource is an asset that is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and has no substitutable. A resource is valuable to the extent that it helps a firm create strategies that capitalize on opportunities and ward off threats. [11] posit that firms align their resources, skills, and expertise into core competence to gain a competitive edge against their competitors. Core competencies, in this case, are the activities that an organization does better than its competitors [13]. These core competencies can include how well an organization can adapt to technological changes and advancement in ICT to further its service delivery. A strategy acts as an integral part of the firm’s goals and objectives; strategy serves as a plan of action that links together with an organization’s key goals, policies, and action The objectives of this study were: 1. To determine the level of customer satisfaction in Botswana’s FMCG food and groceries sector. 2. To examine the correlation between customer satisfaction factors and customer experience and customer satisfaction. 3. To evaluate the impact of customer experience on customer satisfaction. 4. To examine the impact of customer satisfaction factors on customer satisfaction. To respond to the above research objectives, the following research hypotheses were tested: H1: The gender of the customers has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H2: The age of the customers has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. H3: Product quality has a statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. 2 customers’ needs are the foundations of service delivery as they are deterministic of what precisely the organization needs to do and how exactly it will do it as expected by the customers [14]. According to [15], customer service is the provision of services to the organization’s clients in the period leading up to the service’s sale, during the sale, and after the sale of a service. In the context of this definition, [15] argues that customer service is that which an organization does in the form of such acts as giving customers due to attention, providing responses to questions, providing the customers with as much information as is necessary about the services they are interested in and offering service support post the sale of a service to the customers. This entails that customer service is not only defined narrowly by the acts that are done in the transactional offering of service in exchange for revenue but rather, meeting the needs of the customers before the intention to buy the services is made to such a time that is beyond the sale of the service to the customer [15]. A Study [16] defines customer service as the acts of an organization and all the initiatives that an organization engages in with a view to anticipate, meet and satisfy the needs of their customers. This entails that customer service is an intimate process through which the organization can understand what their customer wants, how they want it, how much of it they want, and how often they want it [16]. Having understood the customers' needs, the organization then deliberately offers to the customers exactly what they want in response to their needs in the manner that they wish to satisfy the needs and expectations of the customers. This translates that customer service is relational and not entirely transactional because it is only when the customers’ needs are met that the service provider can begin to realize growth in revenue as a by-product, meeting the customers at their point of appetite [16]. sequences towards achieving the vision and the vision. A well-aligned strategy to the organization’s goals and objectives plays an essential role in assembling and allocating an organization’s resources into a viable setting based on the organizational capabilities, external environment, and contingent moves by their competitors. [11] defines a strategy as a plan of action designed to achieve specific goals and objectives. The supporters of this theory [8] argue that the firm consists of an internal and external coalition that emanates from the social exchanges that are formed to enhance and control behavior. The external environment consists of scarce and valued resources that are key for organizational survival. This is because of the uncertainty involved in the external environment in resource acquisition. The relevance of this theory is that the FMCG operating environment is dynamic; risks and uncertainties characterize due to changes in the external environment. This necessitates adopting strategies to counter challenges in the external environment. According to [3], organizations aim to achieve two key objectives: control over resources to reduce dependence on other firms and gain control over resources that enhance the dependence of other firms on themselves. In this regard, the organization can align all its resources to gain a competitive advantage through effective and reliable service delivery. Customer Service Customer service defines the actions of an organization in establishing the customers’ needs and tailoring the organization’s initiatives to deliberately address the identified needs of the customers satisfactorily and profitably [14]. It was the view by [14] that the notion that customer service was all about ensuring that the organization generates sales and recognizes sales revenue was misguided if the spirit behind making sales was outside the prism of meeting the customers’ needs. In this regard, the 3 Customer Experience representing the organization; they have the propensity to assess what they expected to come out of the interaction and what they realized from the exchange. In line with this view, [19] defines customer experience as the difference between what the customers are expected to experience and what they perceive to have actualized from their interactions with their service providers. Similarly, [20] argues that customer experience is an expression of the outcome of the interactions between the organization, their services, and their customers as assessed through the net effect of customers’ expectations and perceptions. In the same manner, [21] mapped an illustration as a way to define the concept of customer experience, and this is shown in Figure 1 below: Customer experience refers to the outcome of the interactions between the organization, the customer, and the services offered by the organizations and the value created as a result of such interactions and the customer purchase behavior [17]. This means that customer experience defines the outcome from the rational, sensory, emotional, physical, and spiritual interactions between the organization and its customers. The customers can have an indepth appreciation and experience of the value each of their transactional relationships with the organization brings [18]. [19] Each time a customer receives services from an organization o interacts with any agent Figure 1. Illustration of Customer Experience Source: Miller, L. E, Handling nonresponse issues’ (2016) As shown in Figure 1, customer experience is an expression of the difference between the organization’s value proposition to the customers and the value perception of the customers from the services that the organization renders to the customers [21]. What this means is that when an organization makes a promise to the customer of the value that the services rendered by the organization will deliver to the customer, customer experience is an expression of the assessment of the value proposition as measured against the perceived value received by the customers [22]. As further illustrated in Figure 1, customer experience is expressed in terms of value expectation and value realization. In this regard, [21] defines customer experience as being the net between the value expectation of the customer and the value that they realize. This definition of customer experience is again an expression of the difference between the value that the customer expects to learn and the value that they recognize. In line with this argument, 4 where the value realized by the customer is higher than the value expectation, this translates to a positive customer experience; if the expectation is higher than the value realization, the customer experience is said to be negative in that instance [21]. The overarching objective of any organization that desires to attract new customers and retain them is to give their customers a significantly positive customer experience [23]. To achieve this, the organization must strategically initiate processes to ensure that the customers’ expectations are exceeded at each of their interactions with the organization, its services, and its employees [13]. the perceived performance in contrast to the customer’s expectation standards. On the other hand, the affectionate aspect of satisfaction describes the emotional elements born out of the actual service experience, such as happiness, disappointment, and surprise [26]. Customer satisfaction is the resultant attitude arising from the comparative assessment of the performance of the service providers and the perceived quality expectations in terms of the fulfillment of the customers’ desires, goals, and needs [28]. This contrasts with the view of [11], who argued that customer satisfaction is an unobservable, transaction-specific latent variable. Similarly, [29] argued that customer satisfaction represents the experiences, reactions, and emotions of a customer ensuant to the service delivery by their service provider. [30] Postulated that customer satisfaction is the voice of the customers appraising the extent to which the services of their service providers meet or exceed their prior expectations. Customer Satisfaction A Study [24] defined customer satisfaction as a general evaluation based on the purchase and consumption experience of the good or service over time. [25] Added that customer satisfaction is a function of marketing that establishes the extent to which the organization and its facilities were able to meet the expectations of their customers. As averred by [24], the access to actionable information by the organization on what the customers expect and how to deliver it to them to meet their expectations is a must when it comes to customer satisfaction. According to [26], customer satisfaction is the psychological state derived from the confirmation or disconfirmation of customer expectations as measured against the customers’ feelings ensuant to an actual service experience. It was, therefore, the contention of [26] that customer satisfaction is the judgmental attitude that is subject to specific service consumption. Similarly, it was noted by [27] that customer satisfaction describes affectionate and cognitive responses to actual service encounters by consumers of a particular service. It is also noted [27] that the cognitive aspect espoused in customer satisfaction defines the customer’s own evaluation of the adequacy of Service Delivery Experience and Customer According to [31], at the center of customer experience management is to ensure that the organization captures and delivers on the needs and expectations of customers’ preservice delivery, during service delivery, and postservice delivery. In this regard, the level of knowledge management at play influences the quality-of-service delivery in terms of how the organization responds to the needs and exceeds the customers’ expectations in their diversity [22]. This means that service delivery is the moment of truth, where the customers will experience the degree to which the organization was willing and capable of meeting their needs [32]. Through service delivery, the retailers were able to deliver on their promises to their customers in a manner that conforms or discomforts to the customer’s expectations and ultimately influences the experience of the customers in a significant manner [33]. This 5 means that service delivery allows the organization to give of itself in the expectation of satisfying the customers’ needs, and if the customers experience precisely what they expected, such will be a positive customer experience. If they do not share what they expected, such will amount to a negative customer experience [34]. Therefore, this means that the quality-of-service delivery impacts the degree to which the organization meets the needs of the customers, which in turn impacts the manner of customer experience that the customers have with each interaction with the retailer [33]. In the same manner, [35] argues that customer experience is a function of the extent to which the services offered by the organization address the needs and expectations of the customers. It is in this context that retailers in the FMCG sector rely on the feedback that they receive from their customers to be able to know exactly what the customers expect of them, how the customers feel about their current service offering and as such, determination of how these can be modified and improved to improve the customer experience through superior service delivery [35]. In this regard, service service delivery is both an anticipatory, proactive, and response sets of actions instituted modifying the customer experience, which will impact customer satisfaction [36]. the research design adopted in this study was quantitative. The researcher administered a structured survey questionnaire that allowed the respondents to rank their responses on a Likert scale. The responses were processed quantitatively using the Statistical package for social sciences. The study used convenience sampling to extract a sample of 750 respondents. The application of convenience sampling was based on the fact the researcher approached the respondents who were walk-in customers into retail outlets in Gaborone. In this regard, only such customers who were available and willing to complete the questionnaires at the time of data collection were selected into the sample. Data was analyzed by way of descriptive statistical analysis as well as inferential statistical analysis. The questionnaire data was processed using SPSS, wherein the study utilized descriptive statistics in the form of mean, standard deviation, and standard error of mean. The mean was used as a measure to determine the general sentiment of the respondents as gauged against the Likert scale utilized for each question presented to the respondents. The standard deviation represented the degree to which the opinions of the respondents differed within each group of respondents. Multiple linear regression analysis techniques was used in this study in order to make a determination of the nature as well as the strength of the relationship between service delivery and Customer Experience. The regression model that was adopted for this study is given below: Methodology This study was grounded on the positivist research stance, and to this end, the study adopted and followed after the positivism research philosophy. According to [37], the positivist research philosophy places its reliance on the collection and analysis of statistical data. This means that the positivist research philosophy is quantitative and deductive, which translates that the researcher first states the research hypothesis that the research seeks to test. Upon the collection of quantitative data, the researcher statistically tests the hypothesis to confirm or reject the hypothesis [38]. Therefore, 𝑌 = ∝ +𝛽1 𝐺 + 𝛽2 𝐴 + 𝛽3 𝑄 + 𝛽4 𝐷 + 𝛽5 𝑃 + 𝛽6 𝑅 + 𝛽7 𝐿 + 𝛽8 𝐷𝐴 + 𝛽9 𝐶𝐸 + 𝜇. . . . . . . . . . . . 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 1 Y G A Q D 6 = = = = = Customer satisfaction Gender Age Quality Diversity P R L DA = = = = CE µ = = Pricing Responsiveness Store location Physical design and appearance of the shop Customer experience Error term were male. In the same sample, 5.6% (n = 42/750) were below the age of 20; 43.9% (n = 329/750) were aged between 20 and 29; 30.1% (n = 226/750) between 30 and 39 years of age; 18% (n = 135/750) were aged between 40 and 49 years and 2.4% (n = 18/750) were between 50 and 59 years of age. Results and Discussion Level of Customer Satisfaction Respondents’ Profile Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics on the rating ascribed to the various factors of customer satisfaction and the overall level of customer satisfaction in the Retail sector of Botswana. The study sample comprised of 750 individuals and out of these, 53.6% (n = 402/750) were female and 46.4% (n = 348/750) Table 1. Descriptive on Factors of CS, CE, and CS Q Mean 3.70 SD 1.234 N 750 D 4.25 1.152 750 P 3.09 1.081 750 R 3.11 1.268 750 The findings in Table 1 show that in general terms, the quality of products within the FMCG food and groceries sector of Botswana were ranked as being good (mean = 3.70), and from this finding, it can be deduced that the customers found the quality of products that they consumed to be commendably good and as such, worth consumption. Product diversity ranked good (4.25), which in essence means that the customers were satisfied by the level of diversity that their retailers offered and the latitude this afforded them in terms of choice. The pricing of products within the retail sector of Botswana was found to be fair (mean = 3.09), and this means that the customers were of the opinion that these products were not too cheap and, at the same time, not exorbitantly priced and out of their financial reach. The level of responsiveness within the retail sector of Botswana was ranked as being moderate (mean = 3.11). This means that the employees within the retail sector attended to the needs of the respondents with average speed and moderate attentiveness. The location of the retail outlets was ranked as being well placed (mean = 3.97). This means that the customers were of the L 3.97 1.310 750 DA 4.00 1.217 750 CE 4.16 1.327 750 CS 3.87 .944 750 view that the retail outlets were in close proximity to where they resided and, as such, we’re very accessible to them. The design and appearance of the retail shops in the FMCG food and groceries sector were ranked as being good (mean = 4.00). This means that the shops’ appearance was viewed as appealing, and the arrangement of shelves was convenient for ease of movement and for customers’ comfort to locate the goods they wanted to purchase from the shops. In terms of customer experience, the findings in Table 1 show that the customers ranked their customer experience within the retail sector as being good (mean = 4.16). This means that, in general terms, the customers who took part in the survey were of the view that the retailers met their expectations to a great extent, and this, in turn, gave them a good customer experience in the main. The researcher sought to determine customer satisfaction with the FMCG food and groceries sector of Botswana. The survey allowed the customers to provide a personal rating of their satisfaction at the individual level. The findings were compounded, and as per Table 1, the level of customer satisfaction in 7 Botswana’s FCMG sector was found to be good (mean = 3.87). This means that, in general terms, the customers were satisfied with the service that they were offered by their choice retailers. While the level of satisfaction differed at the individual level, the overall satisfaction was ranked as being good. Correlation Between Factors of CS, CE, and CS To examine the manner of correlation between the factors of customer satisfaction, customer experience, and customer satisfaction, the study undertook and correlation analysis, and the findings in this regard are given in Table 2. Table 2. Results from the Correlation Analysis Q D P ** ** CE .740 .624 -.662** CS .533** .714** -.848** R .627** .526** L DA ** .757 .687** .203** .153** CE 1 .638** CS .638** 1 more positive the customer experience becomes and the higher the level of customer satisfaction. This could be attributed to the fact that the customers in Botswana’s retail sector are price sensitive. As such, their experience and satisfaction are positive where their perception of pricing was favourable. The findings, therefore, agree with [24], who argued that due to price sensitivity amongst the customers in the retail sector, pricing shares a strong negative correlational relationship with the customer experience and customer satisfaction. The level of responsiveness has a strong positive correlation with customer experience (r = 0.627) and with customer satisfaction (r = 0.526). This could be attributed to the fact that the more responsive the organization is to the customers’ needs and the more the employees within the retail sector attend to the customers’ needs, the greater the customer experience and ultimately, the greater the level of customer satisfaction. These findings concur with [35], who opined that as the level of responsiveness shown by the organization increases, so does the customer experience and customer satisfaction. Location was found also to have a solid positive correlational relation (r = 0.757) with customer experience but a weak positive correlation (r = 0.203) with customer satisfaction. This could be attributed to the fact that the proximity of the retail outlets to the customer impacts how the customers experience service delivery. The more accessible the outlets are, the greater the level of Table 2 shows that the quality of products had a strong positive correlational relationship with both customer experience (r = 0.740) and customer satisfaction (r = 0.533). This means that customer experience and customer satisfaction were directly proportional to the quality of products being sold within the sector. The higher the quality of products, the greater the customer experience, and satisfaction level. These findings concur with [33], who argued that the quality of goods in the retail sector has a strong positive correlational relationship with both customer experience and customer satisfaction. Similarly, the study found that there existed a strong positive correlation between product diversity and both customer experience (r = 0.624) and customer satisfaction (r = 0.714). From this finding, it can be deduced that, the more diverse the product range on offer in the retail sector, the greater the level of customer experience and the better the level of customer satisfaction. These findings agree with [35], who also argued that the level of customer experience and customer experience were positively correlated with product diversity within the retail sector. Pricing of the products was found to have a strong negative correlation with customer experience (r = -0.662) and customer satisfaction (r = -0.848). This means that, as the product’s price increases, the customer experience declines. Conversely, the lower the price, the 8 customer experience. Still, however, it doesn’t follow that the more accessible the outlets are that the customer satisfaction will be significantly high [31]. The design and appearance of the retail shops were found to have a strong positive correlation (r = 0.687) with the customer experience and a weak positive correlation (r = 0.153) with customer satisfaction. Design and appearance also have a bearing on the ease with which customers can navigate in the retail outlets, and as such, the more the design allows for navigation. It makes it easy to locate the goods the customers want to buy, the greater the customer experience and customer satisfaction [16]. correlation analysis given in Table 2, it can be deduced that customer experience has a solid positive correlational relationship with customer satisfaction (r = 0.638). This could be attributed to the fact that both customer experience and customer satisfaction related to the trade-off between customer perceptions of service and the perception of service received. In this regard, where the customer experience is positive, it also follows that customer satisfaction will be high. These findings concur with [13, 32, 34], all of whom argued that there existed a strong positive correlational relationship between customer experience and customer satisfaction. Impact of Factors of Customer Satisfaction on Customer Satisfaction Correlation Between CE and CS To determine the impact of the various factors of customer satisfaction on customer satisfaction, the multiple regression analysis was undertaken at a 5% level of significance, The findings in this regard are given in Table 3. The study further sought to determine the nature and strength of the correlational relationship between customer experience and customer satisfaction. From the findings of the Table 3. Summarised Results from the Regression Model Independent Variables (Constant) Gender Age Product Quality Product Diversity Pricing Responsiveness Store Location Design and Appearance Customer Experience R2 = 0.662 Adj. R2 = 0.658 F = 160.886 Sig. = 0.000 The findings in Table 3 show that the Rsquare coefficient for the regression model was 0.658, and this means that when all independent variables are taken as a unit has, they have a 65.8% explanatory power over the variations in the level of customer satisfaction in the retail sector of Botswana. The findings further show β 1.804 .345 -.015 .417 .300 .303 .417 .081 .338 .088 t 13.989 13.462 -.582 9.721 8.746 7.676 10.528 1.397 8.164 2.314 Sig. .000 .000 .561 .000 .000 .000 .000 .163 .000 .021 the F-value = 160.886 and p-value = 0.000<0.05, and this further indicates that the regression model used in this study was statistically significant and capable of explaining the variations at the back of changes in the independent variables. In line with the 9 summarised regression model results in Table 3, the following regression equation emerged: satisfaction. This is consistent with the argument by [8] that product quality has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. The findings show that product diversity has a positive and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction within the retail sector of Botswana (β = 0.300), p = 0.000<0.05. Therefore, the study accepts the alternative hypothesis, which stated that product quality has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. This finding agrees with [3] who argued that diversity of products in the retail sector has a statistically significant effect on level of customer satisfaction. Pricing was found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction (β = 0.303), p = 0.000<0.05. In this regard, the study accepts the alternative hypothesis that the pricing of products has a positive and statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction in the retail sector. This finding concurs with [8] who argued that pricing has a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction in the retail sector. Responsiveness was found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction (β = 0.417), p = 0.000<0.05. In this context, the alternative hypothesis that responsiveness has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction is accepted by this study. This finding also concurs with [14] who argued that level of the level of responsiveness in the retail sector has a positive and statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction. The study found that store location did not have a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction in the retail sector of Botswana (β = 0.081), p = 0.163>0.05. The study, therefore, accepts the null hypothesis, which stated that store location does not have a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. This finding does not agree with [2], who opined that the location of the retail outlets had a statistically significant effect on the level of customer satisfaction in the retail sector. The design and appearance of the store had a positive 𝑌 = 1.804 + 0.345𝐺 + 0.417𝑄 + 0.300𝐷 + 0.303𝑃 + 0.417𝑅 + 0.338𝐷𝐴 + 0.088𝐶𝐸 + 𝜇 As per the findings in Table 3, it can be deduced that the gender of the customers was positively correlated (β = 0.345) to customer satisfaction. In this regard, from the Beta coefficient, it can be deduced that a unit increase in gender dynamics in the population of customers will increase the level of customer satisfaction by a factor of 0.345. In the same manner, the p-value = 0.000<0.05 shows that gender had a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction, and therefore, the hypothesis that gender has a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction is accepted by this study. This finding agrees with [36], who argued that gender significantly impacts customer satisfaction. The findings also show that gender was negatively correlated to customer satisfaction within the retail sector of Botswana (β = -0.015) and the p-value = 0.561>0.05. This means that even though age had a negative impact on customer satisfaction, the impact was not statistically significant. Therefore, the study accepts the null hypothesis, which stated that age does not have a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. This finding is inconsistent with the claim by [31] that the age of customers has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction in the retail sector. Product quality was fund to have a positive impact on customer satisfaction (β = 0.417), pvalue = 0.000<0.05. In this regard, it can be deduced that a unit increase in the product quality offered by retailers will increase the level of customer satisfaction by factor of 0.417. The p-value = 0.000<0.05 shows that product quality has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. In this regard, the study accepts the alternative hypothesis that product quality has a statistically significant impact on customer 10 and statistically significant impact on the level of customer satisfaction in the retail sector (β = 0.338), p = 0.000<0.05. Based on these findings, the study accepted the alternative hypothesis that the design and appearance of the store have a positive and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. This is consistent with [5], who also argued that the design and appearance of the retail outlet had a significant effect on the level of customer satisfaction. The study found that customer experience positively and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction in Botswana’s retail sector (β = 0.088), p = 0.021<0.05). Ensuant to this finding, the study accepted the alternative hypothesis, which stated that customer experience has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. This finding concurs with [35], who argued that customer experience positively and statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. statistically significant was found to predict 65.8% changes in customer satisfaction. In overall terms, the study found that gender, product quality, product diversity, pricing, responsiveness, design and appearance and customer experience all had a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction in Botswana. The implication of these findings is that, whilst there are a number of factors that are regarded to have a bearing on level of customer experience in the retail sector, management within Botswana’s FMCG food and groceries sector should pay particular attention to gender, product quality, product diversity, pricing, responsiveness, design and appearance and customer experience. In this regard, it is recommended that in their service delivery, they should be gender sensitive given the fact that gender impacts significantly on the level of customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the study recommends that management within the sector should adopt a quality and diversitycentric policy within their outlets. Where the organizations are quality-centric and diversitycentric, they will provide superior quality of products and services and will also offer significant product diversity to cater to the diverse tastes and needs of their customers. In the same manner, the study recommends that the retailers should employ customerfocused employees who understand the value of customers and will be responsive to the needs of the customers. The pricing models that are adopted within the sector should, whilst seeking to attain organizational profitability should also consider affordability of products amongst the customers. To achieve competitive pricing, the retail sector should strengthen supply chain management so as to manage costs on the supply chain for the benefit of customers. The study also recommends robust customer experience management practices which are anchored on robust customer knowledge management practices where every encounter with the customers and ever complaint laid by the Summary and Conclusion The study sought to determine the level of customer satisfaction within Botswana’s retail sector, and in this regard, the focus was placed on the FMCG food and groceries sector. In determining the level of customer satisfaction, the study sought also to determine how the various factors of customer satisfaction were correlated to and impacted customer satisfaction. The study thus found that an overall customer satisfaction score of 3.87 was attached to the level of customer satisfaction in Botswana. This means that the study found that the level of customer satisfaction was good on a 5-point scale (1 = very poor and 5 = Excellent). The study found that with the exception of pricing which has a negative correlation with customer satisfaction, all other factors of customer satisfaction considered in this study displayed a positive correlational relationship with customer satisfaction. The study used multiple regression analysis to determine the impact of various factors of customer satisfaction on customer satisfaction and the regression model was 11 fellow workmates, and classmates’ efforts and willingness to share ideas, which made this project possible. I would also appreciate Texila American Mentors who really believed in me and gave me the chance to work with me through out. Last but not least, I would also like to acknowledge the unquantifiable moral support from my family and friends without which it would have been impossible to complete this Journal. customers should serve as a key source of information on how the service delivery can be enhanced and ultimately customer experience enhanced. Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the help I received from my supervisor, Dr. Lesego Selotlegeng, whose guidance, expertise, and patience were of great value. I would also like to acknowledge the Government of Botswana and my employer: the Department of Public Service Management (DPSM), for the support they gave to carry out this research Conflict of Interest The author declares that there is no conflict to be included in the journal. [9] Madan, M. and Kumari, P. 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