An Empirical Investigation of Customer Satisfaction in the Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Loyalty

The retail business in Saudi Arabia, especially online retail, has increased its demand for additional research on service quality (SQ), customer satisfaction, and loyalty. As a result, the current study had two objectives. The first was to comprehend retail customers’ attitudes toward SQ, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty while the second was to investigate the fundamental process underpinning retail customer satisfaction and loyalty. To that end, the current study used a positivist research methodology, a deductive approach, and a quantitative method. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire distributed online among retail customers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to assess 150 valid responses. Descriptive statistics-cross tabulation was utilized to ascertain retail consumers’ attitudes about customer satisfaction, SQ, and loyalty. SmartPLS 3.0 was utilised to investigate the hypothesised effects. This study found no differences in customer attitudes in terms of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and SQ. This research insinuates that Saudi Arabian retailers can develop the same strategy for different demographic groups. The study also discovered the mediating effect of Saudi retail customer satisfaction in the relationship between SQ and customer loyalty. Based on this research, Saudi Arabian consumers value responsiveness and dependability more than the outer appearance of retail enterprises. According to the results, Saudi Arabian retailers should focus more on SQ components to increase customer satisfaction, which will increase consumer loyalty.