CUSTOMERS SAY HOLIDAY SHOPPING WAS WORSE

RIDGEWOOD, NJ, February 1 -- More than a quarter of customers said their 2000 holiday shopping experience was worse than the year prior in a national survey of 1,015 consumers sponsored by MOHR Learning, Ridgewood, NJ. Only 15% of in-store shoppers saw any improvement in such problem areas as long lines, out-of-stock merchandise or poor sales help. Most shoppers reported no change or were unsure.

"Now that retailers are looking at their holiday sales, they should factor in their customers experience and consider how committed they were to improving service," said Michael Patrick, CEO of MOHR Learning, a unit of Provant, Inc. that trains retail employees. "Few shoppers seem to think stores are doing a better job -- and retailers ought to be listening."

Compared to your shopping experience shopping in stores last holiday season, how
would you rate the following?

Among the surveys other findings:

• Compared with consumers in other regions, shoppers in the Northeast were somewhat less likely to say their experience was worse this past season.
• The older the consumer, the less likely the person was to report a worse experience.
• Men were somewhat more likely than women to complain about store employees, either those who cant answer questions about merchandise or who ring up merchandise too slowly.
• Shoppers with income under $15,000 were more likely to say the problem of "no open registers nearby" was worse this season.
• Customers in metropolitan areas were more likely to complain about advertised merchandise not in stock and lack of adequate parking
  

The omnibus survey of 1,015 consumers was conducted by International Communications Research, Media, PA.

Headquartered in Ridgewood, NJ, MOHR Learning is the largest U.S. retail training provider. Among MOHR Learnings clients are A&P, Barnes & Noble, Belk, Blockbuster, CDW, Clinique, Coach, Crate & Barrel, Dayton Hudson, Donna Karan, Duty Free, Eckerd, Federated Department Stores, Gap, JC Penney, Kmart, Kroger, The Limited, Nordstrom, Reebok, REI, Safeway, Sears, 7-Eleven, Value City, Victoria's Secret and Wal-Mart. 

MOHR is a unit of Boston-based Provant, Inc., a group of strategically-aligned training and consulting organizations providing performance enhancement skills and programs to a range of industries.