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Measuring hospitality around the world
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Smiling Report
How often do we greet each other around the world?
One thing that can make or break a shopping experience is customer service. As Jane Austen once said, “First impressions are everything.”
Well, she probably didn’t say that exactly, but very similar. That standard still holds today, and we wanted to know what these first impressions translated to around the world.
The Goals
We set out to find which countries reported the most welcoming attitude in different industries. Here are some factors that went into the report:
Smiling
Did the employee smile at the customer upon entering the establishment?
Greeting
Was the customer greeted by the employee with eye contact? If so, was the customer also greeted with a farewell/closing greeting upon leaving the establishment?
Add-on Sales
Was the customer offered any additional product? Did it complement their purchase?
Methodology
Mystery Shopping Providers in 69 countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America contributed data from more than 1 million evaluations of Smiles, Greetings, and Add-on Sales across a spectrum of industries.
After data was gathered, Mystery Shopping Providers then analyzed the data, categorized it by industry, and sent it to Better Business WorldWide, who then compiled it by country and industry.
SurfMerchants, using Presto reporting technology, developed the online reporting suite, available at http://smilingreport.com.
Who took the top?
In 2016, Ireland had the highest frequency of smiles at 96%.
In add-on sales, El Salvador comes in at the top with 99% frequency.
In that same year, 8 Latin American countries took the top title for highest frequency of greetings.
Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela all are at the top with a frequency rate of 100%. Great job, Latin America!
On the other end, Hong Kong and Macau are consistently ranked among the lowest in smiles and greetings.
Hong Kong has an average of 59% and Macau 56% frequency in smiles.
In greetings, Hong Kong did slightly better with 66%, yet Macau remains the lowest with 64% frequency.
In Hong Kong and Macau, their cultures focus less on body language and hospitality and more on what’s being sold.
In other words, employees know that what they sell is good, so customers will flock in nonetheless.
In fact, the concept of hospitality is more prevalent among expats than locals.
From 2015 through 2016, North America consistently had the highest cumulative frequency of smiles and greeting compared to the rest of the world.
(North America: 87% and 94%, and South America in 2nd place with 84% and 92%)
North America’s tendency to take the top may have to do with their culture of smiling.
An article from The Atlantic noted that countries with frequent immigration and diversity are much more likely to be seen as “friendly”. This may be because immigrants that do not speak their new country’s language rely on body language.
Therefore, where a dog would consider showing off teeth as threatening, we would see a toothy smile as friendly and inviting.
Japan, a country known for making customers their #1 priority, surprisingly ranked in the middle in smiles and greetings (add-on sales were not ranked in Japan), at 73% and 86% respectively.
In Japan, customer service is the most important and thus customers expect only the best service.
Unlike in Hong Kong and Macau, it is within Japanese cultural norms that customers be warmly greeted upon arrival to an establishment.
Where Do We See A Dip In Trends?
A downward trend occurred in 2007 at the start of the global recession and was observed in all three categories. These trends were consistent until the end of 2010 and turned around in 2011 as the global economy started to pick up.
From the Smiling Report’s initial start in 2004, the rate of smiles and greetings decreased in 2016.
Interestingly, in that same year, the rate of add-on sales increased slightly.
Which Industries Are The Most Welcoming?
Health and Beauty industries consistently ranked the top for smiling frequency Government has the highest frequency of greetings In add-on sales, all 8 industries reported similar frequencies and show similar trends
Government dominates the greeting category with 94% frequency. At least being greeted might make waiting at the DMV a bit more tolerable?
Hospitality takes the lead in add-on sales with 58% frequency, followed by automotive at 56% Interestingly, the retail and leisure industries tie at 49%
Who We Are
Based in Boston, SurfMerchants has been the leading provider of mystery shopping technology since 1998 with our SASSIE mystery shopping system, used by over 150 mystery shopping and market research companies, and over 3 million mystery shoppers.
Our mobile mystery shopping system Presto and Insta-Shops debuted in 2014, focusing on data gathering and instantaneous project deployment.
SurfMerchants also publishes JobSlinger and JobSlinger Plus (mystery shop job board), and Rover (mobile audits performed offline).
Contact Us
For more information on the Presto Insta-Shops platform:
To access to the detailed data and reporting on the Smiling Report
To get your own Insta-Shops project started
To find an authorized Presto Preferred Provider to consult and manage your large scale Insta-Shops Project
Please contact us:
Email: contact@prestomobilesurveys.com
Website: http://insta.prestomobilesurveys.com
Phone: 508-930-5124
(Tony Felos, Presto Insta-Shops sales)
For full information about the Smiling Report, please visit smilingreport.com.
