Why should you care about customer service stats? The answer is simple: customer service is a critical factor in the success of any eCommerce business. And if you want to develop strong, loyal relationships with your shoppers, you need to stay abreast of the most current customer service trends.
Keep reading to explore the top 30 customer service stats that eCommerce sellers shouldn’t ignore.
30 Customer Service Stats for Online Brands
It’s important to look at data on all sides of the support landscape so you can put together the most effective customer service strategy. For example, what is the value of good customer service? What is the cost of poor customer service? What are customers’ current expectations and preferences in terms of wait times, communication channels, and more? And how is the evolution of AI impacting eCommerce support?
Here are 30 customer service statistics you need to know.
The Value of Good Customer Service
It’s no surprise that findings across all relevant studies, surveys, and reports show that excellent customer service is incredibly important for eCommerce brands. Check out these customer service stats regarding the value of great support.
- According to data from Microsoft and published by Hubspot, 90% of American shoppers report using customer service as a deciding factor in whether to do business with a company.
- Hubspot research also shows that 93% of customers are likely to shop again with a brand following a positive customer service experience.
- Oberlo found customer service to be one of the top factors that influences shopping decisions. This survey showed that 70% of consumers have bought from a business based on good customer service.
- It costs between 5 and 25 times more to acquire new customers as it does to keep existing ones (which means it is crucial to provide great support and delight your shoppers).
- 94% of customers who give a business a “very good” rating for its customer experience quality say they will recommend that brand to others.
- Want to make more money? Helpscout data shows that businesses can grow their revenue by 4% to 8% above their market when they prioritize better customer service.
- According to Bain and Company, increasing retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%.
- Similarly, Forbes data shows that 84% of businesses that work to boost customer experience (CX) report an increase in revenue.
- According to the Temkin Group, companies earning over $1 billion annually can increase revenue by $700 million within just 3 years of investing in better customer service. (Note: SaaS companies can expect an even higher increase of $1 billion.)
- Data published by SuperOffice also shows that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for good customer service.
The Cost of Poor Customer Service
We could fill page after page with statistics on the importance and value of excellent customer service. But what about the cost of poor support? It turns out, those customer service statistics are just as convincing.
- Research published by Forbes shows that a massive 96% of consumers will leave a brand for a poor customer service experience.
- Data from Zendesk and published by Hubspot echoes these findings, reporting that 64% of respondents say they’ll switch brands over a single bad experience with a company’s customer service.
- Just 15% of customers who rate a company’s support as “very poor” say they’ll forgive a company for a single negative experience. Conversely, 75% of consumers who rate a brand’s service as “very good” will forgive a single poor customer service experience.
- According to New Voice Media, poor customer service costs businesses approximately $75 billion annually.
- Data from Forbes shows an even higher number, with an estimate from Accenture that unhappy customers switching companies over poor support costs U.S. businesses $1.6 trillion.
Customer Expectations and Preferences
So, we know great customer service is crucial to eCommerce success and poor support can tank your business, but how do you provide the best customer support? The answer is simple: you need to understand and cater to customer expectations and preferences.
- For example, the aforementioned Hubspot research shows that customers prefer knowledge bases over any other self-service channel. That means, if you want to make shopping with you more convenient and enjoyable for customers, you should include knowledge bases on your website.
- In a study from Emplifi, 35% of consumers said they find it “very important” for businesses to offer fully self-serve options.
- Invesp reveals that 33% of customers prefer to contact brands via social media rather than by phone.
- According to Zendesk, 54% of customers expect all experiences to be personalized.
- Similarly, Truspilot data shows that online conversion rates can improve by 8% when you offer personalized CX.
- Invesp research also says that 73% of consumers find online chat to be the “most satisfying” method for communicating with a business.
- The same study concluded that 63% of shoppers are willing to return to a website that offers live chat.
- Finally, 60% of customers say that long wait times are the most annoying parts of customer support interactions.
Want to delight shoppers through excellent service that gets you amazing customer feedback, better retention rates, more sales, and higher profits? Then you need to meet customers where they are and respond quickly and helpfully to inquiries. If you’re a multi-channel eCommerce seller, the best way to do this is by using a help desk like ours to centralize the messaging from all your selling and communication channels into a single smart inbox. Learn more about how our customer support software works by booking a live demo.
The Evolution of AI
No customer service stats article written in 2023 would be complete without a section on artificial intelligence (AI). Thanks to the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI has evolved at a dizzying pace in recent months. Here are some facts and figures related to these advancements.
- Businesses that embrace “digital transformation” are 26% more profitable than their competitors.
- According to SemRush, 80% of marketers reported using AI in their CX strategy and 85% of customer service interactions were handled by AI technology in 2021.
- 40% of businesses also cite customer service as their primary reason for using artificial intelligence.
Wondering what eDesk is doing to stay at the forefront of the AI revolution? We have processed more than 50 million monthly messages from shoppers since 2012, and we’ve learned a lot about what customers ask and how to best organize data to create the most efficient support engine possible. That knowledge, combined with the power of generative AI, are the very building blocks we’re using to create the next generation of customer support tools for eCommerce sellers, and it’s coming very soon. Stay tuned…
Statistics Related to Customer Service Strategies and Teams
Finally, let’s look at a few statistics surrounding two things that greatly impact the success of your approach: customer support strategies and customer service teams.
- The previously mentioned Forbes research shows that businesses that use customer journey maps decrease their customer service costs by 15% to 20%.
- The same research reveals that 68% of consumers say customer service agents are integral to a positive customer experience.
- Even more interestingly, businesses with engaged employees have been shown to outperform competitors by as much as 147%.
Customer Service Statistics for eCommerce Sellers: Final Thoughts
When you look at all these statistics together, they paint a clear picture. Providing good customer service can lead to huge profits for your eCommerce business. And the way to deliver the best support is by responding quickly to customer inquiries, offering personalized experiences, and using the latest technology available to help your staff be as efficient and effective as possible.
Here’s the great news: eDesk makes it much easier to give your shoppers top-shelf customer service. When you centralize all of your customer messaging into a single, smart, well-organized inbox, you’ll be amazed at the time you save. From templates for answering FAQs (so you don’t have to manually type out the same responses over and over), to auto-responders for providing intelligent, immediate replies even when you aren’t available, our features will help you up-level your customer service game while reducing your manual effort.
Plus, as we said before, we’ve got some HUGE news coming soon on the AI front (hint: the eCommerce customer support industry has never seen anything like this before). Join us to be among the first online sellers to use our new features as they release.
There’s never been a better time to join the more than 5,000 online sellers who use eDesk to process more than 50 million monthly messages. Try us free today!
