1st January 2014 saw a major change in the utility sector, as new Ofgem regulations came into force. Designed to create a clearer market, suppliers are now limited to offering eight tariffs to customers (four each for electricity and gas), which will be structured more simply. The aim is to make it easier to compare prices from different suppliers and therefore encourage switching to ensure consum...
By the time you read this most people will have completed the bulk of their Christmas shopping, particularly anyone buying presents online. And the latest figures show that more and more consumers are now purchasing on the Internet. Online sales are still climbing – hitting £10.1 billion in November 2013, according to the IMRG Cap Gemini e-Retail Sales Index, up 10% on 2012.There are a...
New research from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) shows that customer satisfaction with brands in the UK has slowed over the last year. The overall score in the July 2013 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) was 77.9 out of 100, down from 78 a year ago. This is the first time since the Index began in 2008 that levels have fallen, albeit by a small amount.The UKCSI is calculated from an o...
How will consumers interact with brands in the near future? What channels will they use and what sort of experience are they looking for? A new report, ‘The coming era of on-demand marketing’, from consultants McKinsey aims to shed light on these questions and to help companies prepare themselves for this changing world.Essentially McKinsey believes that emerging technologies will mean...
Businesses today operate in a world of ever-changing regulations with the insurance industry a perfect case in point. Companies already need to comply with rules such as the Financial Services Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative as well as ensuring the meet tightening solvency regulations.The new financial year will see a new regulation become law. On April 6, the Consumer...
Last Friday’s Eptica International Customer Service Summit in Paris provided a perfect opportunity for 200+ Eptica customers, partners and staff to review current and future developments in the customer service market. As part of his presentation, Paul Barnes, managing director of Eptica UK Ltd, outlined ten key trends that the company sees driving the market in the near future. Th...
In a recession companies look to cut costs wherever they can – and unfortunately customer service is often a target. After all, if there are fewer customers to service then surely you don’t need to invest as much in looking after them?The folly of this attitude is shown by some recent international research from American Express, neatly summarised in this infographic on the Get Satisfa...