Europe non-food retail expertise reveals why empathy drives buyer loyalty throughout European shops

As Europe’s non-food retail sector expands at document tempo, a brand new CustomerHero benchmark reveals that progress alone not ensures loyalty. Advertising supervisor and buyer insights professional Urszula Kamburov-Niepewna explains why the way forward for retail relies upon much less on expertise and worth — and extra on empathy, listening, and the small moments that make purchasing really feel human

I’ve spent most of my skilled life making an attempt to pay attention — actually pay attention — to clients. Not via dashboards or survey charts, however by standing the place they stand and of their sneakers. I’ve seen the small frustrations that form how folks really feel about manufacturers: the shelf that’s empty simply after they want one thing, the return desk that turns right into a negotiation, the checkout queue that feels countless. That’s the place the actual story of buyer expertise occurs, in moments too small for technique decks, however sufficiently big to resolve whether or not somebody comes again.

If you work in buyer expertise lengthy sufficient, you begin to discover patterns that repeat throughout industries. I’ve seen them in eating places, in banks, in supermarkets. However not too long ago, one sector caught my consideration like no different: non-food retail. It’s fast-moving, hyper-competitive, and filled with ambition. Shops are opening at document velocity — in Poland alone, the six chains we studied launched 308 new areas in simply two years. But behind that progress, I stored sensing one thing was lacking.

It wasn’t that clients didn’t recognize low costs or selection. They did. However the tone of their voices — in feedback, critiques, and even the best way they phrased complaints — advised a extra advanced story. It made me surprise: Can retail develop sooner than its skill to maintain clients comfortable?

That query grew to become the place to begin for what would flip into the Non-Meals Retail CX Benchmark by CustomerHero — a Europe-wide evaluation of 1.2 million rankings and 400,000 buyer feedback throughout 27 nations. My colleague Marcin Racino led the information facet and constructed the software; I joined from the CX and advertising perspective, making an attempt to translate what these numbers really feel like in actual life.

What shocked me most

Once I began studying via the information, what struck me wasn’t one thing dramatic or hidden deep in analytics — it was how peculiar the most important issues have been. The frustrations clients discuss every single day are those we might repair tomorrow if solely we paid consideration.

I stored seeing the identical themes:

• Inflexible retailer guidelines — particularly round returns. Folks described feeling powerless, as if the method was designed to check their endurance somewhat than resolve their downside.
• Lengthy queues that flip five-minute visits into twenty-minute chores.
• Empty cabinets, particularly throughout promotions, leaving clients questioning why they even got here.
• Disorganised or inconsistent checkout experiences — the sort that flip a constructive go to right into a nerve-racking one.

What shocked me most was how human a few of these issues have been. Not failures of expertise or technique — failures of empathy. The only moments, those firms are inclined to overlook as a result of they appear “operational”, are precisely the place loyalty is gained or misplaced.

I keep in mind pondering — we stopped asking the only query: what does this really really feel like for the shopper?

As Marcin Racino from CustomerHero, who constructed the benchmark, stated to me someday:

“The info reveals the place each model has its weak spots, however it additionally reveals one thing deeper — that have isn’t about scale or market share. It’s about how simple you make somebody’s day.”

What nonetheless works — and why it issues

Amid all of the frustration, there was one thing deeply reassuring in what clients valued most. They nonetheless cared concerning the fundamentals — low costs, selection, and order — however what moved them emotionally have been issues that felt human.

They talked about clear, well-organised shops that made purchasing “peaceable”. In regards to the workers who greeted them with heat. About shops the place they might really discover what they got here for. Once I noticed Dealz praised for cleanliness, or Motion for its selection, it jogged my memory that consistency shouldn’t be boring — it’s comforting.

We are inclined to underestimate how highly effective it’s when one thing simply works. The cabinets are stocked. The cashier smiles. The return takes two minutes as an alternative of ten. These aren’t improvements, however to the shopper, they’re experiences that restore religion that somebody on the opposite facet cares.

And that’s the paradox: whereas retail retains reinventing itself with apps, loyalty schemes, and AI assistants, what clients reply to most are the small alerts that say, “You matter.”

A Mirror, Not a Metric

For me, this benchmark isn’t only a assortment of numbers. It’s a mirror — one which reveals the place retailers are actually standing within the eyes of their clients. After we began, I didn’t need one other shiny report back to flow into in inboxes. I wished one thing alive — a option to see what folks really say, really feel, and anticipate from the shops they go to every single day.

As I regarded via the outcomes, I realised how a lot this type of listening can change perspective. All of the sudden, “satisfaction” stops being a metric and turns into a narrative. You begin to see what occurs when a consumer leaves the shop offended after a nasty return, or relieved as a result of somebody lastly smiled on the checkout.

Once I spoke with Marcin Racino, who led the analytical facet of the venture, he put it completely:

“Information at this scale doesn’t simply present who’s successful. It reveals who’s paying consideration.”

That’s precisely it — listening in retail is not optionally available. It’s the one option to keep related.

What the outcomes actually imply for retail

Value wars was the center of retail. Whoever might promote cheaper, gained. However as I learn via a whole lot of 1000’s of buyer feedback, it grew to become clear that the actual competitors right now is for consideration and care. Customers nonetheless love a very good deal, however what retains them loyal is time saved, not wasted.

Each lengthy queue, each empty shelf, each denied return is misplaced income, however it’s additionally one thing deeper: misplaced belief. We regularly say “CX drives revenue”, however while you pay attention carefully, you realise it’s easier than that — satisfaction is revenue.

Forrester as soon as discovered that CX leaders in retail develop greater than 25% sooner than their rivals. Once I see CustomerHero information, it’s not a shock. What we name “buyer expertise” is simply enterprise carried out with empathy and consistency.

From my expertise, the benchmark is just the start. It factors to what wants fixing, however actual change occurs when manufacturers join all of the dots — from critiques and surveys to complaints, social media, and even buyer emails. Solely then can they see the complete story of what their clients are attempting to inform them.

And after years of working with firms throughout sectors, I’ve realized one factor: when you begin listening correctly, you possibly can’t unhear it. The insights is perhaps uncomfortable, however they’re essentially the most useful suggestions a enterprise will ever get.

Closing reflection

Europe’s non-food retail sector is rising quick, however progress alone gained’t resolve who wins. It gained’t be the manufacturers opening essentially the most shops that keep forward — will probably be those that pay attention hardest and act quickest on what they hear.

That’s what we got down to perceive with this venture, and I hope the Non-Meals Retail CX Benchmark helps extra firms begin that journey — not as one other report back to learn, however as a motive to pay attention.

You may discover the complete benchmark and see how retailers carry out throughout Europe right here: https://www.customerhero.com/benchmarks-and-insights/non-food-retail-cx-benchmark-europe-2025 

Urszula Kamburov-Niepewna is Advertising Supervisor and Buyer Insights & Benchmarks Professional at CustomerHero, the place she leads initiatives that translate hundreds of thousands of information factors into sensible methods for enhancing buyer expertise throughout Europe’s retail and repair sectors. With a background in CX analytics and model communication, she specialises in serving to organisations perceive what their clients worth — and the way small operational adjustments can construct lasting loyalty.

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