As part of a Shop Doctor scheme run by Swansea Council, customer experience experts helped over 60 businesses in the city centre, Mumbles and Uplands to identify and address the key issues they face.
Funded by the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme, customer experience specialists from a company called Insight6 carried out the scheme to give businesses advice on how best to lengthen the visit times of their customers and encourage return visits in future.
Staff at Plantasia, Swansea
Mel Evans, Insight6 customer experience director, said:
“We ‘mystery shopped’ many businesses in the Swansea area and benchmarked each against set criteria. These included standards of presentation inside and outside the premises, and the all-important service provided to customers when engaging with the businesses.
“It’s encouraging that Swansea Council is continuing to support local businesses throughout the city. It was such a great project to be involved in and easy to see how passionate some businesses are about delivering great service. Well done to all those businesses that took part.”
Businesses which received top marks included Plantasia in Parc Tawe, Gifts and Co in Swansea Market, and the Mortgage Advice Bureau on The Kingsway. Valley Mill in Llansamlet and The Principality on The Kingsway also scored very well.
Overall, traders in Swansea Market received an average score of 95%.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Investment and Tourism, said:
“By working with Mel and Insight6 we have been able to provide some really useful feedback to 60 businesses who can use this to develop their product and service offering, which will hopefully result in more visitors to our city.
“The contribution our businesses make to Swansea’s economy can’t be overstated. They’re the lifeblood of our economy, so we’ll continue to be on hand to provide any support they need.
“This is now more important than ever as the UK emerges from the pandemic.”
The £90 million Welsh Government Transforming Towns programme includes measures to increase footfall by making sure the public sector locates services in town centre locations, tackle empty buildings and land to help bring them back into use, and greening town centres.
