In the past twelve months, 69% of consumers used customer service from a retailer, but almost three-quarters (73%) encountered problems with the service they received.
Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK Customer Service in Retailing Market Report 2024. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest retail market research, trends, and consumer behaviours affecting your business. This report tracks the support and assistance a retailer provides to its customers before, during and after a purchase.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
The cost-of-living crisis means consumers are looking for value more than ever, raising the bar on customer service expectations. While future technology solutions such as AI have been increasingly used to reduce wait times and boost efficiency, there remains significant scepticism towards the technology, with the potential for AI to replace humans and the quality of AI support being key barriers to usage.
A growing number of consuemrs are interested in seeing more technologies that allow for providing personalised customer support, indicating a key area retailers should focus on to improve the customer experience. The prevalence of tech-powered solutions also gives opportunity to reassert the quality of human interactions, with this particularly appreciated by younger and affluent shoppers who lead purchasing activity in most categories.
Readers of this report may also be interested in our UK Customer Loyalty Market Report 2024, or our range of Retail Market Research.
Sam joined Mintel in November 2022 as a Retail Analyst with a focus on Home Retail. Her previous work experience includes working as a Research Manager for The Insights Family – a market research agency specialising in the kids and family ecosystem. She holds an MSc in Marketing from Nottingham Trent University.
Customer service is a key factor when shopping with a retailer, yet high levels of dissatisfaction with service show an area under-invested in by retailers.
Sam Nguyen
Retail Analyst
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