Short Chain in FVG Region: An Evaluation of the Customer Satisfaction at the "Farmer's Shopping Points"

Farmer market, farmer shops, milk dispenser, 0 ‐Km are some of the new born initiatives for trading agricultural products at (or near) the farm gate, now spreading in EU‐USA; their purpose is to offer to the farmers the chance to trade directly their products, and offer to the consumers new shopping opportunities alternatives to conventional food marketing outlets. This study was addressed to test the customer satisfaction at the farmers’ shops created by a farmer cooperative. The experiment was performed in Friuli VG a North‐East region of Italy, with a survey using a questionnaire submitted to a number of customers randomly selected at the end of their shopping. The customer satisfaction (CS) was evaluated with the SERQUAL procedure consisting in measuring the discrepancy between consumer’s perception and expectation of their shopping experience. The results suggested the following observations: the majority of customers was over 50’s, with an income less than 20 thousand €; they appreciated the variety and origin of the products and criticized the scarcity of space inside the shopping, parking and payment facilities. The frequency of shopping varied from once or twice a week to once a month while the average expenditure at farmers’ shops varied between 20‐25 € per visit. The usual food shopping was made at different market stores (from two to four) but most of the food budget was spent at the LD (Large distribution). Eight different consumer’s profiles were elaborated based on the results of the CS using the cluster analysis. Compared to other retailing facilities, consumers generally expected to find a better food quality, lower prices and were not strongly concerned about brand and packaging strategies, more important at the LD shopping. Quality, freshness and courtesy were the mostly appreciated attributes of this shopping experience, while critics were addressed to the scarcity of space inside the shops, difficulties in parking, payment facilities and market visibility