2. The Retail Consumer Report
Bring Back Unhappy Customers
via Social Media
Research shows that when consumers have a bad experience, they will not come back.
And now, more than ever, unhappy consumers are turning to the social web to share their
complaints. However, retailers have an opportunity to fight back and use social media to
turn unhappy customers into brand advocates.
The Retail Consumer Report, commissioned by RightNow and conducted online by Harris
Interactive in January 2011 among 1,605 online U.S. adults who shopped online during
the most recent holiday season, provides a pulse check of the current state of customer
experiences. Specifically, how retailers are using social media to win back customers and
drive buying decisions.
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4. The Retail Consumer Report
Unhappy Customers Can Be Won Back via Social Media
FAST FACT
68% of consumers who posted a complaint or negative review on a social networking
or ratings/reviews site after a negative holiday shopping experience got a response
from the retailer. Of those, 18% turned into loyal customers and bought more. 68%
of consumers who posted a
Paying attention to consumer’s negative comments on social media can make
complaint or negative review
a big difference. By listening and proactively responding on the social web, retailer on a social networking after
have a chance to turn disgruntled customers into social advocates. The survey found a negative holiday shopping
experience got a response
that, of those who received a reply in response to their negative review: from a retailer.
• 33% turned around and posted a positive review. Of those:
18%
• 34% deleted their original negative review.
However, consumer’s have fairly low expectations that retailers will respond to
their negative posts. Of the 32% of consumers that did not receive a response turned into loyal customers
33%
to their negative review from the retailer, the survey confirmed:
• 61% of consumers would be shocked if a retailer responded to their negative
comment on the social web. turned around and posted a
positive review
FAST FACT
Great Customer Service Drives Buying Decisions
A full half of consumers cited great customer service and/or a previous positive
50%
of consumers say great
customer service/experience
experience as influencing their decision to buy from a specific online retailer.
influences their decision to buy
from a specific online retailer
The data underscores that customer experiences shape consumers’ decision to
buy or not to buy from a specific retailer. For example, after a positive shopping
experience,
FAST FACT
• 31% of consumers purchased more from the retailer. After a positive shopping
experience,
31%
Social advocacy can also help drive sales, the survey found:
• Nearly a third of consumers researched what customers said on social
networking and reviews websites while shopping online. purchased more from the retailer
FAST FACT
On the flip side, poor customer experiences can stop consumers in their tracks and
28%
kill a potential sale. The survey found, after a negative holiday shopping experience
with an online retailer:
• 21% of consumers decided not to buy anything from the retailer. of consumers looking for
information or support with
online shopping researched
what other customers said
on social networking and
reviews websites
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5. The Retail Consumer Report
Happy Customer = Brand Advocate
For those consumers that had a positive holiday shopping experience with an online
FAST FACT
retailer during the past holiday shopping season,
•
•
21% recommended the retailer to friends.
13% posted a positive online review about the retailer.
21%
of consumers that have great
customer experiences
To support consumer brand advocacy, it is imperative that retailers ensure the recommend the retailer
information on their website is accurate and consistent. The survey found that 38 percent to friends
of consumers turned to the retailer’s website for information or support with online
shopping. However, one of the top frustrations consumers had when shopping
online was a lack of consistent information from retailers. Specifically, 22 percent of
consumers were frustrated by information that was inconsistent between the retailer’s
website and customer service agents.
For further research on how customer experiences impact the bottom line—
including that 85% of consumers said they would be willing to pay anywhere between
5-25% over the standard price to ensure a superior customer experience—check out
the Customer Experience Impact Report 2010.
Our solutions:
RightNow CX RightNow Social RightNow
The Customer Experience Suite Engage
RightNow RightNow
RightNow Contact Center
Web Experience CX Cloud Platform
Be social with us:
RightNow.com Twitter Facebook
YouTube LinkedIn RightNow Blog
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6. The Retail Consumer Report
ABOUT RIGHTNOW
RightNow is helping rid the world of bad experiences one consumer interaction at a time,
eight million times a day. RightNow CX, the customer experience suite, helps organizations
deliver exceptional customer experiences across the web, social networks and contact centers,
all delivered via the cloud. With more than ten billion customer interactions delivered,
RightNow is the customer experience fabric for nearly 2,000 organizations around the globe.
To learn more about RightNow, go to www.rightnow.com.
RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ is a registered
trademark of The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC.
METHODOLOGY
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of
RightNow Technologies, Inc. via its Quick Query omnibus product between January 25-27, 2011
among 2,516 adults (aged 18 and older), of whom: 1,605 shopped online during the most
recent holiday season (defined as the period between Halloween and New Year’s); 1,556 had
positive experiences with online retailers; and 898 had negative experiences with online retailers.
Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted
where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Data are
weighted to be representative of the national population of online adults.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple
sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling
error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive
avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different
possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples
with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come
close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in
Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult
population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris
Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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