SEEP National Survey Report 2026 H1: 'Deepening Service Quality and Experiential Value in a Stable Phase'

株式会社BRUSH (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yukimasa Mukoda) provides 'SEEP,' a proprietary customer satisfaction (CS) survey for fashion retail brands. In February 2026, the company conducted a CS survey for physical stores in the fashion industry and summarized the results in the 2026 first-half report titled, 'Deepening Service Quality and Experiential Value in a Stable Phase.' This report visualizes how the quality of service experience impacts customer satisfaction, sales, and brand value, while also summarizing changes in market conditions and store service over the six months since the previous survey in September 2025.

About the 'SEEP National Survey 2026 H1' [Survey Overview] Target Industries: Luxury, Affordable Luxury, Select Shops, Trend Casual, Sports, Jewelry Survey Period: February 2026 Target Cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka Survey Method: SEEP Customer Satisfaction (CS) Survey

Market Trends and Changes At the beginning of 2026, the department store market maintained a recovery trend, with notable changes in customer structure and consumption patterns. Despite lingering instability in inbound demand, domestic consumption remained robust, driven by high-net-worth individuals and CRM-identified customers. With high-value goods like jewelry and premium clothing performing well, the market is shifting from 'quantity' to 'quality,' entering a growth model centered on high-value consumption.

In this market environment, CS scores have entered a stable phase while maintaining a high level. Rather than significant growth, the overall trend is one of maintenance and balance. Market changes have also influenced store service; as overcrowding has eased, stores are better positioned to focus on individual customers. In this context, the importance of service quality has increased, becoming a critical factor supporting CS scores.

Category Analysis Highlights: - Luxury: Maintained high levels of service quality. While customer understanding and closing have strengthened, the value of proposals remains a challenge. - Affordable Luxury: Although the service process is maintained, early engagement and experiential value have weakened. - Select Shops: Despite lingering challenges in initial approach, hearing, proposal accuracy, and closing have improved. - Trend Casual: While initial engagement shows weakness, quality of understanding and proposals has improved. - Sports: Challenges exist throughout the service process, with weak proposal and experiential value. - Jewelry: High performance with an upward trend, showing strengthening across the entire process.

Conclusion and Proposals While CS scores for 2026 H1 remain high, the mix of improvements and declines across categories highlights emerging disparities in service quality. While areas directly impacting purchases, such as hearing and closing, have improved, fundamental behaviors like approach have declined. Moving forward, the company suggests that retailers must balance improving basic service quality with strengthening proposal and closing capabilities to achieve sustainable CS growth through enhanced field execution.