Metrigy Releases Customer Experience Optimization: 2023-24 Consumer Perspective Research Study
This study, conducted in May 2023, features responses from 502 consumers in the U.S.
October 5, 2023 – Research and advisory firm Metrigy has released its Customer Experience Optimization: 2023-24 Consumer Perspective research study. Metrigy conducted research with 502 consumers in the U.S. to understand what they like and dislike about the technology they use to interact with businesses.
“Consumers today have high expectations regarding customer service—and little patience when they’re disappointed in the experience. On average, they’ll give a company three chances, and then take their business elsewhere. Companies can’t afford not to understand what’s working and what’s not as part of their CX strategies,” says Matt Craig, Metrigy Chief Data Scientist.
Metrigy conducted this consumer research in conjunction with a benchmark study of 641 companies on their CX adoption, technology, and strategy directions. With a never-ending set of technology options for interacting with customers, CX and IT leaders are continuously evaluating and changing their applications, services, and operational processes. In this study with CX and IT leaders, Metrigy evaluated how successful companies are optimizing the use of their CX technologies, and explored the gaps between companies and consumers on CX.
The consumer-facing CX Optimization study covers the following areas:
- Interaction channels: Which do customers most prefer to use for customer service interactions, and which best meets their needs?
- Chatbots: Attitudes toward and most recent experiences with chatbot interactions
- Consumer behavior: How do consumers react to bad experiences, technology use, feedback requests, and more?
- Generative AI: Do consumers trust the use of generative AI, and how does this compare to CX/IT leaders?
Some key findings in this study include:
- Voice calls are still the most common ways in which customers are interacting with customer service, for 78.5%. Email is second, at 68.7%, but phone interactions are by far the fastest and preferred method of contact.
- In general, consumers do not like to use chatbots—and nearly 40% actively avoid them. Frustration stemming from finding the answers needed is by far the biggest reason for avoiding chatbots.
- Age plays a significant role in preference and experiences in interactions. In many cases, there is a stark difference between those who are younger and older than 45 years old. For example, younger folks are less likely to call for an appointment than those who are older than 45 (31% vs 52%) or to address a problem with a product/service (41% vs 60%). They are much more likely to prefer text/webchat in both instances compared to their older counterparts.
This study is available for purchase on our website here.
