A recent survey by Feefo has emphasised to all online retailers, or retailers with an online operation, that customer treatment throughout the buying experience must be market-leading. With substandard customer service, there is a very high risk that customers will seek out other competitors in the future, with 30% of the survey’s respondents claiming that they would move to a competitor after just one negative experience of a brand.
In fact, the survey claims that for a customer to stay loyal to a brand, the customer service must be highly efficient – and quick. Many of the UK adults in the survey (30%) stated they needed lightning-quick answers to their questions. 3 in 10 people claimed that they would not want to wait any longer than 10 minutes for a response to a query, regardless of the channel used to get in touch. Therefore, providing a quicker customer experience is a key area where businesses can set themselves apart, as Amazon shopping customer service is notoriously slow.
Furthermore, consumers tout being passed around a call centre as their biggest customer service bugbear. As a consequence, with almost a third of all consumers stating that a single bad experience with a company is enough to deter them forever, it is clear that brands must ensure all interactions with customers enhance the overall customer experience.
Other key findings from the research include how customers utilise the technology available to them in their purchasing journey. More often than not, consumers head to either Amazon or Google to start their search, with 79% of online shoppers research their purchases on these two web giants before going on to buy elsewhere. So, for consumers continue to make that switch to buying directly from smaller businesses, those businesses must add value.
The survey further underlined why excellent customer service is such an integral part of successfully retaining business. From the survey’s findings, there seem to be some simple wins for online retailers. For example, over half (53%) of all survey respondents claim their most common annoyance was not finding answers to their questions online. Business owners can easily solve this problem with a few updates to their website, allowing customers to find the answers to their questions 24/7.
Making all-important changes like this looks to be a way that business owners can flex their muscles against the likes of Amazon and Google. Feefo’s findings point to a number of ways that business owners can help better their success. With almost 80% of online shoppers admitting to abandoning their carts before making a final purchase, there looks to be massive scope for online retailers to improve their sales figures, starting with addressing customer expectations.
