Shoppers were willing to put up with lower standards of service while they and the retailers they relied on navigated the health emergency. But now, as conditions normalise, they expect better. Good service will increasingly characterise retail success but a poor experience will be punished, argues Luke Tugby.
Almost two years have passed since the coronavirus crisis gripped the UK, yet there is a concerning trend that some retailers appear unwilling, or perhaps unable, to rectify.
While it has certainly not been the case across the entire industry, many businesses have sleepwalked into a customer service rut during the pandemic.
It was not always that way. Thousands of frontline workers went above and beyond during the early stages of the crisis and were hailed for doing so. Indeed, those staff were the focus of our Retail Week Awards last October following their superhuman efforts in delivering essential goods to consumers’ doorsteps during national lockdowns.
But as time has progressed the trading and social-distancing restrictions implemented to curtail the spread of the virus have become a ready-made excuse for businesses to deliver lacklustre customer service. Cuts to the retail workforce through a combination of the furlough scheme and redundancy rounds have added further pressure, while snarl-ups in the supply chain meant availability in certain categories has also taken a hit.
Customers accepted delays during Covid’s peak
Consumers were accepting of those challenges for a long time. Indeed, retailers referred to the trend as “Covid forgiveness” – the notion that shoppers were willing to let reduced service levels go unpunished as the nation battled its way through the peak of the health crisis.
But as the light at the end of our long and painful Covid-19 tunnel shines ever brighter, with hopes building for a return to a more ‘normal’ way of life this year, retailers must raise their service standards not just back to pre-Covid levels, but beyond, if they are to keep hold of their customers.
Even though trading restrictions on shops, bars, restaurants, cinemas and other leisure activities were removed last year, below-par service remains worryingly prevalent.
Why, for instance, has it become acceptable for store staff to refuse to check stock availability in other local shops, pushing customers online instead?
Why has it become acceptable for customer service telephone lines to redirect you to an online chatbot for assistance?
Why has it become acceptable for delivery drivers to dump a parcel outside a neighbour’s house, but claim it has been handed directly to the customer?
These failures continue to happen with alarming regularity – I’ve experienced them all since Christmas. But such scenarios are battering retailers’ reputations and consumers simply won’t stand for it any longer. The era of Covid forgiveness is well and truly over.
Data released by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) this week laid that reality bare. Brits complained more about their treatment at the hands of businesses during 2021 than in any other year on record.
In the survey of 10,000 consumers, the ICS found that 13% had complained about poor customer service during the past six months, while 16% had experienced problems of some form with the service they received.
More than a third of customers said they would be willing to pay more for better service – the highest level the ICS has recorded since it started the survey back in 2008.
As ICS chief executive Jo Causon suggests: “There is an opportunity to invest in delivering the real value that customers expect and deserve.
“Against the backdrop of a challenging economy, a strong service offering is an increasingly important battleground for brands to differentiate themselves and drive stronger financial performance.”
Treat customers like your relatives
That’s a belief that has long been held by Pets at Home and its chief executive, Peter Pritchard. The business has emerged as one of the big winners of the coronavirus pandemic and just this week posted a jump in like-for-like sales during the golden quarter – putting it on track for another record year of sales and profits.
It is no fluke that Pets at Home also finished top of the ICS Customer Satisfaction Index, beating businesses from sectors including tourism, transport and banking to claim the crown.
Make no mistake, those two achievements are intrinsically linked. Brilliant customer service can fuel loyalty, instil customer confidence, increase average spend and bolster the bottom line. Prichard himself hailed “continued momentum in customer acquisition, engagement and spend” when unveiling those third-quarter results on Wednesday.
AO founder and chief executive John Roberts has instilled a similar ethos, placing huge emphasis on “treating every customer like your gran” – a mantra I have also experienced first-hand since Christmas, courtesy of two of the etailer’s expert installation team.
Roberts has always viewed that customer-centric approach as a crucial differentiator for his business, a USP he steadfastly believes will help AO to win and retain custom in the future.
For retailers such as Pets and AO, which have placed huge importance on culture and customer service even throughout the pandemic, setting new service standards that stretch beyond pre-pandemic levels is something that is well within their grasp.
For others that have allowed customer service standards to fall at unacceptable rates amid a trading backdrop littered with challenges, rebuilding those credentials will be far a tougher task.
As one chief executive puts it: “Consumers are rightly demanding a return to the service levels they received before the pandemic. The difficulty is that businesses have allowed customer service to fall by the wayside so dramatically over the past two years that driving those levels back to where they should be will be extremely difficult.”
Retailers cannot afford to underestimate the value of good customer service. It will grow in importance as a crucial differentiator for businesses as we emerge from the coronavirus crisis.
Consumers are already signalling their willingness to pay more for better service and shoppers will increasingly gravitate to the companies that can fulfil those demands.
The retailers that don’t do this run the risk of being left behind as the era of Covid forgiveness is displaced by consumers’ post-pandemic expectations.
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