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introduction
Benchmark Report
The support struggle:Bridging the digital divide.
Analyzing where customer support is falling short—and how the right digital experiences can bridge the gap.
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Overview
But, why does this matter right now?
spending habits
%
of consumers are cutting back on spending that isn't strictly necessary.
%
said solid customer support would really boost their loyalty during turbulent times.
The numbers make it pretty clear:
effective, easy-to-reach support is critical.
Get it wrong, and you end up with frustrated customers and a congested contact center.
So where do brands stand?
Let’s dig in to find out
To survey or not to survey?
To survey
or not to survey?
feedback favor
Survey data indicates consumers still want to provide feedback, but not all surveys are well-received:
%
completed surveys after a good or bad experience.
%
find mid-experience surveys annoying and avoid them.
%
avoid a survey if it feels too long.
Voice of the customer
Getting voice of customer surveys right can create new opportunities today, as industries see shifts in traffic for 2025.
As cost concerns rise, retail and telco brands are facing sharper declines in traffic. Surveys at the wrong time could continue to drive customers away.
For travel and financial services, traffic is seeing a big boost. Could surveys help potential new customers become loyal patrons?
The path to success?
This makes consumers feel heard and reduces future issues that could lead to calls to the contact center.
Launch them after key moments like a successful purchase, support ticket resolution, or upon completion of a key onboarding step.
Combine customer feedback with their actual behaviors using tools like Quantum Metric's Data Enrichment to link VoC responses to specific digital sessions, revealing the "why" behind the feedback.
In-location experience is now digital.
In-location
experience
is now digital.
Mobile usage is pervasive, often supporting in-store experiences and serving as the primary interface for interactions.
1 in 3
consumers will ask a human for help when they have a question in a brand's physical location. The rest opt for a mobile experience.
And this isn’t just happening in retail. Despite mobile dominating traffic across industries, lower mobile conversions reveal that consumers regularly use devices to support their experiences. Telco is the outlier, with conversion rates just 2% lower than desktop.
Case-study
This is why we see brands like Radisson Hotels investing in their mobile app experience not just for bookings, but support across the entire experience.
The issue with mobile-assisted experiences?
Not everyone is going to your app or site.
1 in 3 conduct a general Google search when they have a question (even if it's about your product).
The path to success?
Consider mobile as a support channel, especially when customers are on-location.
Go beyond product pages and promotions by offering self-service tools and educational resources to keep customers engaged throughout their experience.
the tough thing about contact centers.
The tough
thing about
contact centers.
Customers continue to see contact centers as the most effective form of customer support.
14x
Average consumer calls or chats with customer support per year.
Yet, contact centers continue to be a major source of frustration.
For 1 in 3 consumers its either
Repeating their problem to multiple people.
Experiencing lengthy wait times.
AI FRUSTRATION
For others it’s the challenges automated AI chats can create.
%
say that their issue is only resolved in one session if they speak to a person.
%
are rude to automated chatbots because they find it harder to get answers.
The path to success?
Balance automation and human assistance to simplify support.
Consider investing in tools that provide agents with immediate understanding about a customer's recent digital activity (just like United Airlines did) .
Case study spotlight
Easing financial anxieties in the contact center.
%
reduced average call handle times.
Self-service: Potential versus performance
Self-service:
Potential versus
performance.
The other side of the contact center challenge is making the right self-service investments to reduce calls.
But, half of consumers find self-service falls short for complex or time-sensitive issues.
Outside of more customer support calls, poor self-service tools can be a big problem for digital brands when it comes to customer retention.
%
have decided to not purchase an item or service if the brand had poor support options.
And this matters more than ever.
Despite a 23% YoY decrease in conversion rates in travel and retail, abandoned cart rates have also dropped.
This indicates more cost-conscious consumers may have a stronger intent to purchase.
What, then, prevents them from completing the transaction?
Poor customer service.
The path to success?
Identifying why users abandon their carts or drop off during key digital flows enables organizations to prioritize improvements to self-service tools, ensuring they effectively serve as the crucial first line of support.
Also, tools like Contact Driver Analysis correlate contact center data with digital sessions, helping pinpoint issues that cause consumers to overlook self-service.
Case study spotlight
Easing frictions in self-service to reduce calls.
A large healthcare provider linked call data with user sessions to identify and understand where their self-service support was going wrong. They uncovered performance issues like slow loading pages and unclear messages were the culprit.
Addressing these frictions significantly reduced call volume by about 5,000 weekly, resulting in millions in annual call center savings and helped grow overall conversion rates.
$1M+
annual savings
