Retailers need to respond quickly to social media enquiries or risk losing customers
Responding quickly to customers’ enquiries is the key to brand loyalty, according to research by Interactive Intelligence Group Inc.
The survey of 1,000 UK consumers revealed nearly 8 out of 10 Brits (79 per cent) will use a different retailer if they don’t receive a timely response from customer service.
The research also found that over 90 per cent of shoppers claimed a reply to an enquiry within an acceptable time frame will impact their satisfaction with retailers.
Nearly nine in ten (87 per cent) said that the availability of preferred communications channels, such as social media, also impacts their satisfaction and brand loyalty with the retailer.
Furthermore, the research showed that almost half (47 per cent) of UK consumers said that they expect an immediate response to web chat and text enquiries. Over three quarters (77 per cent) of shoppers expect a response in under 30 minutes to social media enquiries, and only two per cent assume an answer to an email should take longer than 48 hours.
Says Dave Paulding, Regional Director for Interactive Intelligence: “The research demonstrates how important it is to ensure retailers offer the right channels for customer engagement. Having the data to know, understand and compare customer details is imperative to success.”
Interactive Intelligence Group Inc.
