Are you being served?

The impact of self-service tools and technology on customer experience in retail and financial services

The results of this research demonstrate that while the availability of self service technologies is not in itself a crucial differentiator in determining brand loyalty, it can have a significant impact on the consumer’s attitude to a brand. For example, our focus groups told us that they would be put off using a brand if they had a particularly negative experience using the web site of that organisation. But on the other hand a positive experience could help inspire and cement loyalty.

Managing customer experience across multiple channels is clearly a challenge for retailers and financial services providers alike, that goes far beyond having the right products in the right place at the right time. Experience is all about emotion – companies trying to sell to consumers have to start by understanding how customers feel when shopping or dealing with them, and their expectations of the experience. They need to understand how the customer feels at each touchpoint, whether that be a kiosk or self service checkout, online or in a branch or store.

Download the 'Are you being served?' PDF [555 KB]