Benchmarks and Tracking of Customer Experience and Standards in Singapore's Hospitality and Retail Sectors

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the Ministry tracks the customer experience and standards of the hospitality and retail sectors; (b) if so, how have such sectors rebounded in terms of customer experience and standards since the start of 2022; and (c) what are the metrics and benchmarks used to measure customer experience.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) does not collect data on the customer experience and standards of the hospitality and retail sectors. For such information, we will refer to data or surveys from external sources. For example, Singapore Management University (SMU)'s Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) publishes a yearly Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG), while The Straits Times and Statista have produced a ranking of "Singapore's Best Customer Service 2022/23". Some of the metrics used to rank Singapore’s retailers and service providers include (a) the quality of communication, (b) professional competence, (c) range of services, (d) customer focus and (e) accessibility.

Based on the data from CSISG, the scores for the retail sector declined in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been some improvement, customer satisfaction is not back to pre-pandemic levels. Similar data for the hotel sector is not available as SMU’s ISE discontinued the survey in 2020. This was due to the low level of international visitor arrivals during the pandemic and other priorities of the university. Going forward, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will review how they can assess the level of customer satisfaction through individual hotel surveys.