British consumers willing to lose £20 before making effort to complain
British shoppers are willing to be out of pocket to the tune of £20 instead of making the effort to complain.
The survey of 3,000 consumers from Youstice.com found that email remains the most popular way of complaining with two-thirds of consumers (67 per cent) choosing that method over going into a store in person to complain (19 per cent) or using a brand’s social media channels (12 per cent) - but only if it seems worth it.
However, even if they don’t make the complaint, consumers will hold a grudge. Following a bad experience, half of UK shoppers (49 per cent) said they would think twice before making a repeat purchase while more than a third (40 per cent) said they would never shop with the same retailer again.
“Today’s consumers have become increasingly savvy about what and where they purchase online,” said Zbynek Loebl, Founder and CEO, Youstice.com.
“However it is clear from the report that they are losing out financially because retailers have made acclimatised them to this acceptance by making a claim for refunds or exchanges difficult.”
It was also found that online trust is an ongoing issue for consumers. Three out of five UK shoppers rely on previous customer feedback such as reviews before making a purchase with an online retailer, whilst more than nine out of 10 (91 per cent) use a combination of previous feedback and searching online.
The report comes ahead of new European regulation that comes into effect in 2015, calling for all internet retailers to have an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) system in place for consumers.