Who conducted the research on service quality in the region?

The study, titled "Regional Service-GUEST," was conducted by the Heraklea agency in collaboration with regional mystery shopping agencies.

In which categories did Croatia score the best and the worst?

Croatia achieved its best result in the product knowledge category (97.3 percent), while the only decline was recorded in the category of thanking the customer for their visit.

Which country in the region provided the best service?

Montenegro is convincingly the best with a score of 86.7 percent and the largest increase compared to last year (9.3 percentage points).

Economy

Croatia Below Regional Average in Service Quality for Fifth Consecutive Year

E.K. · Prije 19h | 2 min

Mystery shoppers from the Heraklea agency visited 400 retail outlets and assessed five key service elements. Croatia shows growth but remains below the regional average for the fifth year running.

Summary

Croatia ranks fourth in the region with 77.56 percent, below the average for the fifth consecutive year.
Montenegro achieved the best result (86.7 percent), while Macedonia had the worst (66.3 percent).
The financial industry is the best-performing sector (84.8 percent), while retail is the worst (71.1 percent).
Croatia recorded its only decline in the category of thanking the customer for their visit.

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The eighteenth edition of the regional study "Regional Service-GUEST" has revealed that Croatia lags behind most of its neighbors in service quality at retail outlets. With an overall score of 77.56 percent, it ranked fourth among six countries in the region, while Montenegro convincingly took the top spot with 86.7 percent.

The study was conducted from June 1 to 30 by the Heraklea agency in collaboration with regional mystery shopping agencies. Mystery shoppers visited 400 retail outlets in sectors such as retail, financial services, automotive, tourism, hospitality, and gas stations.

Product Knowledge as a Bright Spot

Five basic elements were assessed: greeting, identifying customer needs, product knowledge, offering additional products, and thanking the customer for their visit. Croatia achieved its best result in product knowledge, with a high 97.3 percent, representing an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to last year's 94.7 percent.

The greeting category scored 87.3 percent, while thanking the customer for their visit received 78.7 percent. Interestingly, thanking the customer was the only category where Croatia recorded a decline compared to the previous year, dropping by 1.3 percentage points. Despite an overall increase of 3.56 percentage points, the country has remained below the regional average for the fifth consecutive year.

"Croatia is following the regional trends of service quality growth, and it is particularly commendable that it is progressing in most segments. At the same time, the results show that there is still significant room for improvement, as service quality remains below the average for the fifth year in a row," the statement said.

Regional Ranking and Sector Differences

Montenegro made the biggest leap in the region compared to last year, improving its score by 9.3 percentage points. Slovenia is in second place with 84.7 percent and an increase of 6.3 percentage points. Third-placed Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a score of 83.11 percent, was the only country, along with Macedonia, to record a decline, dropping by two percentage points.

Serbia sits in fifth place with 76.4 percent and an improvement of 2.4 percentage points, while North Macedonia is at the bottom with 66.3 percent. By sector, the financial industry proved to be the best with a score of 84.8 percent. On the other hand, retail once again achieved the weakest results with only 71.1 percent, confirming its long-standing status as the sector with the most room for improvement.