The annual ‘Connected Life’ survey from global researchers Kantar TNS explored this year how consumers are accepting online customer service.
The research – from 70,000 correspondents from 56 countries, including over 3,000 from the UK -indicated that online customer service options are expanding, but consumers’ acceptance is still low.
The results show only 28 percent of UK consumers will interact with online chatbots. A total of 34 percent of UK consumers said they are not completely ready to accept this kind of service and that an offline alternative should always be available.
Meanwhile, concerns around privacy and data sharing remain – 54 percent of consumers are not willing to be monitored and to share their information online.
Jo Causon, Chief Executive of The Institute of Customer Service, said:
“The future has to be about achieving a blended solution, where technology and people work side by side to enhance the customer experience.
The right use of technology means that organisations can free up their people, away from low-level transactional customer services, and enable them to focus more on value-added customer service – helping customers resolve the more complex issues.”