Survey: These retailers top customer service expectations
Exceptional customer service is key to driving long-term customer loyalty — and once again, B&H Photo Video, The Home Depot and Zappos are blazing the path.
For the second year in a row, these three heavy hitters topped the 20th Annual Mystery Shopping Study. The report from Astound Commerce recognized retailers who excel in customer service through an assessment of “must-have” website features and behavior based on engagement with available touchpoints.
Winning merchants scored highest in four critical areas, including visibility, overall customer service, speed of delivery and efficiency of checkout. Retailers that ranked in the top seven had a combination of efficient and streamlined logistics, responsive and helpful customer service capabilities, and an efficient and effective digital experience.
The top performers include (in alphabetical order):
• B&H
• Gap
• L.L. Bean
• Lancome
• Moosejaw
• The Home Depot
• Zappos
“Service is the quickest route to retention. Shoppers expect efficiencies, accessible information, competency and timely information that allows for quick decision-making, avoiding any obstacles along the customer journey,” said Lauren Freedman, senior VP of digital strategy at Astound Commerce. “In today’s challenging retail environment, where short-term thinking often prevails, we hope retailers remain vigilant in their customer service investment and execution.”
The study also ranked retailers on their “customer service and help destinations,” or the ability to provide easily accessible information, links to customer service from the home page, visually effective and in-depth information and the use of icons and personnel imagery to brand this location online. The following six retailers received perfect scores in this area”
• Apple
• B&H
• Crutchfield
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• Office Depot
• Tory Burch
In the quest for customer service, some retailers’ initiatives still miss the mark. For example, while the retailers surveyed have invested in live chat capabilities, along with improving traditional customer service options such as email and call centers, responsiveness to customer service queries in several categories declined when compared to 2015.
Call center response time increased from 5.8 minutes in 2015 to 6.8 minutes in 2016, and live chat response time increase from 10.2 minutes in 2015 to 12 minutes in 2016, the report said.
On a positive note, email response time declined by over six hours compared to 2015 (20 hours, 17 minutes in 2016 compared to 26 hours, 30 minutes in 2015).
When measuring response rates for customer service queries via email, the following five retailers posted response times of less than 30 minutes:
• Amazon - Six minutes
• Uniqlo - 12 minutes
• Steve Madden - 17 minutes
• Staples - 18 minutes
• Oriental Trading - 25 minutes
“Excellent customer service comes in a variety of forms, from proactively communicating with the customer about their order status, to timely responses to inquiries, to speedy delivery and simple returns,” said Igor Gorin, CEO of Astound Commerce. “At the top of every retailer’s list should be providing an informative, accessible and reliable experience. Doing so will elevate customer satisfaction and bolster the retailer’s bottom line.”