Retail gets middle-of-the-pack marks among several industries for customer service as consumers change how they want assistance with the advent of automated intelligence agents, according to a recent study by Decagon, a producer of AI agents.
According to their Decagon study, developed by The Harris Poll, customer support ratings varied among industries. Finance and travel, and hospitality earned the highest marks, with 63% and 60% of consumers, respectively, saying customer service is excellent or good. Technology, at 52%, and media and telecom, at 48%, got the lowest scores in the study. Retail fell in the middle at approximately 55%.
The youngest and oldest consumers polled had different opinions regarding customer service. Some 59% of consumers 18-44 years old rated finance customer service good or excellent compared to 66% of consumers 45 years old or older. The spread for travel and hospitality was 59% to 63%, respectively. Retail had a narrower range, with 54% of consumers 18-44 rating customer service excellent or good, versus 56% of those 45 or older.
The study looked at consumer response to AI agents, as well, with 64% of consumers 18-44 saying they trust artificial intelligence customer support more now than they did a year ago, versus 43% of older consumers. Then, 55% of younger consumers agreed AI is capable of demonstrating emotional intelligence when delivering customer support, versus 28% of those older.
When asked if AI chatbots can listen to someone better than a spouse or partner, 55% of younger consumers agreed, versus 28% of older consumers. Moreover, 51% of younger consumers said they felt more comfortable sharing personal details of their lives with AI chatbots than with some friends, compared to 24% of older consumers.
When acting with an AI agent for customer support, the most important factors cited by consumers were that it be knowledgeable and accurate in answering questions, cited by 40% and that it would be available 24/7, cited by 16%.
