Aim:   It  has  been  demonstrated  that  customer  satisfaction  is  critically  important  to  the performance of grocery stores (Bamford and Xystouri, 2005). In Gävle, there is heavy competition among the three big brands - ICA, Willy:s and Coop. Therefore, the study of  customer  satisfaction  in grocery  stores  in  Gävle  is  worth  researching.  This  paper aims to establish major attributes that underlie sub-attributes, to examine which pose the  most  dynamic  influences  on  the  degree  of  customer  satisfaction  in  the  different store formats. 

Method:  The  method  framework  consists  of  analysis  of  three  samples  of  customers who purchase in the three store formats of ICA, Maxi ICA, ICA Sätra Store and ICA Nära. Following  a  weighted  mean  calculation  of  the  15  sub-attributes,  thus  the  result  can show  us  the  influence  of  the  identified  attributes  and  sub-attributes  on  customer satisfaction. 

Result & Conclusions:  The  degree  of  customer  satisfaction  in  Maxi  ICA  is  highest,  followed  by  Sätra  ICA and  ICA  Nära.  The  attributes,  such  as  additional  service,  store  location,  and  store environment exert greatest influence on customer satisfaction in the three  formats of   stores.  The  principal  sub-attributes,  such  as  opportunity  to  meet  friends,  attractive price,  convenient  car  parking,  location,  wide  range  of  food  and  helpful  staff act dramatically.  It is concluded that additional service and location satisfy customers most. The degree of customer satisfaction in grocery stores in Gävle, as different formats of stores can meet customers' different needs and requirements. 

Suggestions for future research:   Four  suggestions  for  future  study  are  introduced.  Firstly,  researching  in  other  cities, such as Stockholm or Malmo, is advisable, as both of them differentiate from Gavle in terms  of  size  of  city  and  geographic  context.  Secondly,  research  on  comparison among ICA and its competitors is also advisable to be conducted as it can investigate Swedish retailing industry from a different aspect. Thirdly, Uutialo (2001)’s result appears  to  be  against  yours, the  gap  between  Uutialo’s and  ours  is  advised  to  be examine  further.  Lastly,  the  future  researchers  are  also  advised  to  concern  about  the relationship between traditional retailing industry and e-commerce. 

Contribution of the thesis:  This work contributes to extant literature by assessing differences in the main factors that contribute to satisfaction in grocery stores in Gävle, depending on different store formats,  as  customer  satisfaction  is  commonly  linked  with  service  marketing. Moreover, the field of grocery market in Gävle has not studied before the way we did, so this thesis has its original value.