Live Help: Nearly three-fourths of consumers turn to a digital method before calling a contact center for customer service, and 88% of callers shuttled to an automated system end up needing to talk to a live person, according to CFI Group. More people are using email (20% this year vs. 14% in 2017) and online chat (12% vs. 9%) to contact customer service. In 2018 the overall Contact Center Satisfaction Index (CCSI), on a scale of 0 to 100, was 70—up 3% from 2017's 68.
Super Supermarkets: In the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, the supermarket industry beat out the other 19 industries included for first place, with a 79% rating. Wegmans (86%), H-E-B (83%), Publix (83%), Aldi (82%) and Wawa (82%) were the top supermarkets. These are composite scores based on three factors: success, effort and emotion. AmazonFresh experienced the biggest year-over-year drop, from 80% in 2017 to 67% in 2018.
Moms and Toys: Due to Toys "R" Us' demise, more studies are being done to determine where shoppers buy toys and games. The latest, from PTPA Media, surveyed mothers in North America and found that 69% buy toys in brick-and-mortar stores, while 34% visit a store monthly and 70% feel it's important to physically see a toy before buying. Some 28% claimed to have shopped at Toys "R" Us monthly, and 43% did so every few months.
