A new study commissioned by RightNow investigating customer experiences across Australia has found that more than a quarter (28 per cent) of consumers continue business with a company following a poor customer experience because they believe that alternative companies are just as likely to offer unsatisfactory service. 

Even when a customer stops doing business with a company, as more than half (58 per cent) of the study’s respondents said they had done, only 35 per cent felt that the company was aware that they had defected, while a meagre 26 per cent said that the company had tried to win back their business.

Of the seven verticals respondents were asked about, the study found the following key insights relating to customer experiences in the online retail industry:

· 18 per cent of Australians said they’d had a poor customer experience when making a purchase with an online retailer, making it the best industry (along with travel companies) at providing customer experiences
· 62 per cent of Australians have stopped doing business with an online retailer following a poor customer experience, making it the fourth worst industry for customer churn
· Of those removing their business from an online retailer following a poor experience, 46 per cent felt that the company was aware they’d removed their business
· Only 16 per cent of Australians felt that the online retail company had tried to win back their business

Commenting on the study’s findings, Brett Waters, RightNow’s Vice President Asia-Pac South, said: “The study paints a pretty bleak picture of customer experiences in Australia. Even when consumers try to be proactive about ill treatment and remove their business, there’s no guarantee that the company will notice and even less evidence that they’ll try and win back that business.

"It seems as if companies are reliant on consumers staying put because of lack of choice in the market. Clearly, for an organisation willing to invest in delivering superb customer experience, there’s a massive opportunity to use that at as a competitive differentiator and win the hearts and minds of all those disaffected customers,” Waters said.

With more than half of respondents (53 per cent) actively using social networking sites like Twitter, Youtube and Facebook, better engagement with consumers through this channel is something for organisations to consider as a way of differentiating the customer experiences they offer.

The study found there are opportunities here for both marketing and customer service interactions with 57 per cent of Australians happy for companies to use social networking sites to provide them with discounts and offers. From a customer service perspective, nearly half (49 per cent) would welcome interactions with companies following a negative comment they had posted, as would 56 per cent following a positive comment post.

In addition, the study found that what Australians read on social networking sites can influence their purchasing behaviour. Sixteen per cent said they had stopped doing business with a company because of a social media discussion they had seen about how the company treats customers. Another 16 per cent of respondents said they had also seen a positive consumer discussion about a company and had gone on to make a purchase because of that – 49 per cent of those purchases were made online.

The study also explored other sources that influence Australian consumers when they are considering a purchase. More than half of respondents (58 per cent) deemed customer reviews and feedback online to be the most important source, of least importance was advertising in any shape or form.

“Australians are consistently tuned out to company marketing and advertising, whereas they are heavily influenced by recommendations from friends and family, online customer reviews and feedback, even positive and negative discussions on the social web are having an impact.

"There’s an argument for Australian organisations to refocus a portion of their ad spend towards improving customer experiences that should, in turn, positively impact all those highly visible discussions and sources of influence to the long-term benefit of the organisation.”