Chatbots rank dead last in customer satisfaction as digital service demand grows amid COVID-19

eGain, the leading provider of customer engagement solutions, announced that chatbots ranked at the bottom among digital touchpoints in customer satisfaction during the initial outbreak of COVID-19.

Conducted by Dimensional Research on behalf of eGain and fielded in June 2020, the survey was administered to thousands of consumers, who had used a digital channel for customer service across six industries in April and May 2020.

Here are key findings:

  • Chatbots aka virtual assistants rank at the bottom among digital service options, including chatbots, messaging, chat, cobrowse, email, and social
  • 57% of consumers were frustrated with inconsistent answers across chatbot and human-assisted service. This highlights the importance of taking a unified, omnichannel approach to customer context and knowledge management.
  • 80% of consumers increased the use of digital customer service
  • Millennials and Gen Z consumers are leading this trend with 92% and 87% of such respondents increasing their use of digital customer service, followed by Gen X at 79% and even boomers at 69%.

“Digital service is the answer to contact centre challenges,” said Ashu Roy, eGain CEO. “Chatbots are great but only when they are easy, smart, and connected.”

Report of survey findings: https://www.egain.com/covid-19-digital-customer-service-engagement/

*Findings were compiled from 625 respondents, who had used a digital channel to contact banks and credit unions, insurance, communications service providers, healthcare (including insurance and providers), retailers (including online retail), and government entities with a minimum of 100 respondents for each sector.

About eGain

Our omnichannel customer engagement solutions power digital-first experiences for leading brands. Infused with AI, machine learning, knowledge, and analytics, our award-winning platform helps clients automate and optimize customer journeys via virtual assistance, messaging, social, mobile, web, and contact centres.

To learn more about eGain, visit https://www.egain.com.