UK the happiness nation when it comes to online retail experiences

UK consumers are more happy with the experiences being offered by retailers online than their global counterparts – but most only shop regularly shop with three online retailers.

According to an analysis of 33,500 online shoppers across 17 countries – with 2,000 from the UK – by Google and Kantar, 79 per cent of UK consumers rate their experiences with retailers as being either excellent or very good, compared to the global average of 69 per cent. Within this, overall satisfaction remained the same as previous years, yet customers still reported gains in 22 of 30 customer experience categories.

UK consumers reported a big increase in satisfaction within ‘fresh delivery of groceries’ (rising from 52 per cent to 57 per cent). Meanwhile, ‘quick and easy payment processing’ recorded a satisfaction score of 72 per cent and ‘quick website/app load times’ 69 per cent.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – or, more simply, customer recommendations of retailers – was recorded as being 40 in the UK, versus 30 globally. This shows that UK consumers are more willing to promote their favourite retailers than their international counterparts.

However, despite tending to be aware of 12 online stores, only three online stores are generally purchased from. Moreover, only 13 per cent of UK shoppers (compared to 22 per cent globally) have stopped purchasing from a retailer after making their initial purchase with the organisation, showing Brits to prefer repeated purchases with a few select retailers.

The overall satisfaction of UK consumers is offset by the fact that only 33 per cent of them are happy with retailer loyalty schemes. Meanwhile, 43 per cent felt that retailer websites got to know their preferences or personalised content for them.

“It’s well known that customer expectations are defined by the best experience they have with a retailer – immediately creating a new bar for all other retailers to meet. This research not only confirms that point, but points to the need for retailers to work on personalisation strategies, loyalty schemes, overall site speed and more. The retailer who falls behind gets left behind, and retailers must anticipate customer needs and ensure it is being met with ease and speed as a bare minimum,” said Martijn Bertisen, retail director at Google UK. 

“UK customers are savvy, and we can see here that they reward great customer experiences with both repeat purchases and advocacy. The imperative is to be the retailer that sets the bar higher and finds new ways to not only keep customers satisfied, but to drive that satisfaction further upwards.” 

Source: Mobile Marketing Magazine

  Digital, eCommerce, Experiences, Google, Kantar, Marketing, Online, Report, Research, Retail, Study, UK