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Poor customer service is making consumers less loyal to retailers, according to a survey.
Vision Critical carried out a survey on behalf of Kana with 2,000 consumers, which showed that 30 per cent have become less loyal to retail brands over the past five years.
48 per cent of respondents said that they had to repeat a complaint to different people within the company. This affected those under the age of 35 the most, with one in 20 having to repeat themselves to retailers at least five times.
In contrast, 64 per cent of consumers over the age of 65 did not have to repeat their complaint at all.
Of those who feel less loyal to retail brands, 37 per cent of 18-to 24-year-olds cite service as the key factor, versus 20 per cent of customers aged 65 and above.
In the past six months, more than one in ten adults have used at least five different customer channels to contact a retailer.
Steven Thurlow, head of worldwide product strategy for Kana, said: “By forcing consumers to repeat themselves, often several times over a prolonged period, organisations not only deliver inefficient service that costs them money – they seriously affect future consumer loyalty.
"The younger generation has higher expectations of digital channels, collaborative and social communications and asks, ‘how hard can it be’? They won’t take an organisation seriously that is unable to do the basics right, and these expectations are rising all the time."
