4 in 5 Singapore consumers ditch unresponsive brands

They prefer retailers who respond fast.

According to the SAP Hybris Consumer Insight survey, 4 in 5 consumers said an unresponsive customer service is a reason for them not to use a brand again.

SAP Hybris global vice president of fast growth markets marketing Nicholas Kontopoulos said that the survey found out that along with a responsive customer service, ensuring data privacy and personalisation are key factors of great customer experience and customer retention in Singapore.

“Whilst data privacy and security remains to be of high concern and importance amongst customers across APAC, including Singapore, customer service and personalisation are also critical. True to the highly service-oriented market, our survey found responsive customer service to be Singaporeans’ top priority in the engagement with brands. Speed and privacy aside, it is just as important for businesses and marketers to ensure relevant content is shared with consumers today – and this requires a deep understanding of not just consumer preferences, but context at point of purchase or even consideration,” he said.

Being responsive also entails being prompt, as more than 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within three hours. The survey also found out that definitions of personalised customer service differ greatly across various customer groups, and the importance of brands’ capabilities in truly understanding and contextualising their efforts for it to matter.

"In fact, receiving too many direct marketing and sales calls (64%) and irrelevant content (47%) are the top two don’ts for Singapore customers,” added Kontopoulos. “Beyond simply capturing customer data, the ability to analyse, contextualise, and more importantly, act on insights gathered in real-time are key to truly impress savvy customers today,” he explained.