UK shoppers say that supermarkets are falling short of providing 'excellent' support services, according to new research commissioned by Yonder Digital Group.
Around 2,000 consumers were asked whether they felt companies in a variety of sectors were easy to get in touch with, and if they resolved queries rapidly and effectively.
The supermarket sector emerged fourth in the study, behind online-only retailers, banks and hotels, however, Yonder describes this as 'the best of a bad bunch'.
The research shows that supermarkets are failing to meet consumer expectations, with 19% of shoppers rating the ease of contact as 'excellent', 34% as 'good', 33% as 'basic' and 13% as 'poor'.
“Customers have individual preferences for contacting companies, which is why businesses lose out when they don’t offer a range of touch points," said Chris Robinson, CEO of Yonder Digital Group.
"At crucial moments in the journey to purchase, many customers will look for a live agent, particularly for urgent or non-standard queries."
Consumer Demand
Yonder says that the data suggests UK supermarkets still rely on their physical store network and staff to resolve issues, rather than providing customers with a choice of communication channels.
However, today's consumers are increasingly accustomed to swift reposes to queries across multiple channels, and Yonder's research showed that 81% of shoppers will take their business elsewhere if their queries aren't answered quickly and effectively by a company.
As a result, supermarkets that continue to overlook their levels of contactability are 'taking a gamble', according to Yonder.
"Businesses that fail to provide support at these critical stages risk losing customers to competitors with superior support services," added Robinson.
"As the results show, a large proportion of companies are still falling well below the mark, suggesting there is a long way to go for UK industries to catch up with modern expectations.”
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
