Online companies are making it hard for customers to reach them, as 45 per cent of the UK’s top 50 online brands don’t have a ‘contact us’ link on their homepage.
According to research from MaxContact, which audited contact options at 50 top UK online brands, 60pc of brands only display their contact information on the FAQ’s or help section of their website.
Of consumers surveyed, 72pc say they believe companies are purposely making it harder for them to get in touch with them, and 81pc believe this is due to staff shortages or cutting costs.
The research also highlighted that 38pc of customers said poor service had caused them stress and anxiety, and 18pc had abandoned a purchase or switched to another brand because they couldn’t get a quick answer.
A further 85pc of customers say they would shop again with a company who made it easy to contact them.
Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact said: “Great customer service is all about making sure your customers can get in contact with you when they need to and resolve their query quickly and efficiently. Get this wrong and customers are happy to take their business to a competitor who is willing to talk to them.
“There’s no one size fits all solution. Sometimes a phone call is absolutely the right way to best help customers – especially when dealing with complex or sensitive cases such as a refund dispute or financial problem.
“A helpful and knowledgeable agent will reassure customers that their issue is in good hands. But for simple, quick queries, phone calls can be laborious, and customers prefer webchat or email to get quick answers to a question without waiting on hold.
“Having an omnichannel customer engagement platform supporting staff also helps make query resolution more efficient and drives down costs at a difficult time, as well as delivering for customers. The key is understanding your unique customer base to get the balance right.”