Service Attributes Leading to Customer Satisfaction in Physical Distribution Services
Distributor/wholesaler channel systems are the ones that include a manufacturer, a distributor, and the distributor's customer, where the manufacturer sells product to the distributor, sometimes called a wholesaler, who sells to business customers (Maltz & Maltz, 1998). Inventory stocking, product availability, final delivery, and other basic aspects of customer service are some important responsibilities of distributors (Maltz & Maltz, 1998). Mentzer et al. (1989) highlight the importance of individual order cycle, starting from order placement and concluding with satisfactory delivery. Achieving high quality in PDS is critical in B2B settings (Perreault and Russ 1974), because a firm’s improved performance in terms of the service attributes can help differentiate itself from competitors (Xing and Grant, 2006).
Daugherty et al. (1998) found 11 attributes relevant to PDS – fill rate, orders shipped complete, cycle time consistency, cycle time length, delivery on due date, frequency of deliveries, communication of problems/changes, invoice accuracy, usage of advance shipping notices, usage of preferred carriers, and willingness to customize service. Similarly, Mentzer et al. (1999) found 9 attributes, including information quality, ordering procedures, ordering release quantities, timeliness, order accuracy (reflecting product availability), order quality, order condition, order discrepancy handling, and personal contact quality.