Are you being served? No
You may have long suspected it but now official proof that Britain is being poorly served online has emerged following publication of a survey of 2,000 British firms and consumers. It found that whilst online shopping is becoming increasingly common, online service is not.
The survey found that a mere nine in ten firms offered a live chat service to resolve problems, despite the obvious efficiencies of such work. Instead customers are being forced to rely on phones (75%), email (71%) and letters (22%).
Commissioned by live chat software provider Netop found that customers demand fast and direct human contact but are instead being left on hold listening to canned music or their phone, or scouring their junk email folder to see if they got a response last Tuesday.
Just 7% of British companies offer an online chat service on their websites but is used by more than a quarter of those surveyed – suggesting high demand for such a utility.
Kurt Bager, chief executive officer at Netop, said: “Live chat resolves almost all the problems of a call centre and does so much more quickly. At the same it allows businesses to give a personalised service experience making customers feel more valued and bringing them closer to their brand. Hands down, live chat beats listening to hold music and saves you having to pop into town to sort something out that could be easily addressed online.”