Retailer-supplier relationship: the impact of logistics service level in customer satisfaction and loyalty

Abstract

Companies are always looking for new ways to maintain and/or increase their competitiveness and gain market share. One of the most important initiatives in recent years is the offering of logistics service levels that help customers to achieve their goals. The objective of this research is to demonstrate the impact of logistics service on customer satisfaction and, consequently, on their loyalty. Empirical evidence is provided on the relationship between operational and relational performance, satisfaction, affective commitment, purchasing behavior and loyalty of buyers from the Brazilian retail sector, and new variables that can be incorporated in the qualitative phase of the study. Finally will be verified the validity of the theoretical model developed for the Brazilian market retailers. Such a study will reveal not only the strategic importance of discipline and production operations management (POM) in the customer / supplier relationships, but also seek to extend the theory beyond the limits POM's internal organization, by enabling a more complete and complex view of the loyalty phenomenon. (AU)