Businesses are evaluated by their customers on their customer service experience. Good, bad, or mediocre, it’s big business.
Here, we go deep into the latest customer service industry statistics. Understand what’s happening – on a global scale – in the customer service industry. So you can see where your business stands.
Industry market size and growth
1. The global customer service software market is currently valued at approximately $14.9 billion.
Projections for the market are $68.19 billion by 2031 – growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.94% from 2024 to 2031.
2. The customer experience management market (a key segment of the customer service industry) has grown from $12.04 billion in 2023.
This market is expected to grow at a significant CAGR of 15.8% from 2024 to 2030.
3. North America held the largest share of the customer service software market in 2021.
This region is also expected to maintain its market share through 2030. The main reason for this share is the presence of numerous tech-savvy businesses, as well as significant demand for advanced customer service solutions.
4. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to show the fastest growth rate in the customer service software market from 2022 to 2030.
The growth in this region is attributed to increased demand for advanced customer service solutions in countries such as China and India.
While specific statistics for regions Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa are part of the global growth trend, Europe’s market share is most likely to follow North America – due to its technology infrastructure already in place and developed economies.
5. Over 50% of businesses are sold on delivering exceptional customer service.
This is demonstrated by their choices to outsource customer service to improve efficiency and cut costs. This typically includes live chat support, telephone answering, and social media support.
Customer experience and satisfaction
Customer experience and satisfaction is typically measured in a few ways:
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – Usually based on how consumers feel about a service or product, on a sliding scale from 1 to 5.
- Customer Effort Score (CES) – This assessment measures how effortless it is for consumers to engage with a business.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) – NPS measures how likely consumers are to recommend a business to others.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a key resource for assessing customer satisfaction across various industries in the U.S. According to ACSI, customer satisfaction rates can vary depending on industry type. For example, the retail banking sector has experienced a decrease in overall customer trust.
6. U.S retail banking satisfaction study reports that 13% of customers are likely to switch institutions within the next year.
Common reasons include poor service experiences and unexpected fees.
CSAT scores range from 0 (no customer satisfaction) to 100 (complete satisfaction). A score of 75 implies that 75% of survey respondents expressed satisfaction with a product or service.
Let’s take a look at some current customer satisfaction metrics across varying industries:
- Online Search: 80 in 2023 (a 5% increase from 2022’s 75)
- Shipping: 77 in 2023 (a 4% increase from 2022’s 74)
- Streaming: 77 in 2023 (a 4% increase from 2022’s 74)
- Online Travel: 76 in 2023 (a 1% increase from 2022’s 75)
- Energy: 72 in 2023 (consistent with the previous year)
- Social Media: 73 in 2023 (a 2% increase from 2021’s 71)
- Internet Providers: 68 in 2023 (a 4% increase from 2022’s 64)
- Health Insurance: 76 in 2023 (a 3% increase from 2022’s 73)
- Life Insurance: 80 in 2023 (a 2% increase from 2022’s 78)
- E-commerce: 80 in 2023 (a 3% increase from 2022’s 77)
7. According to customer satisfaction stats, 90% of customers expect an immediate response to inquiries.
Millennials in particular value brands that make it clear that they respond to customers’ social media inquiries.
8. Forbes survey reported that 61% of respondents’ loyalties to a brand are influenced when a company’s actions and ethics align with their own values. These factors highlight the importance of focusing on trust-building activities and effective communication to improve customer satisfaction in the U.S. market.
Customer service channels and preferences
For the best customer service, it’s important to meet customers where they are, and on their preferred customer experience channels.
The following statistics indicate how popular different customer service channels are:
9. Email: 93% of customers use email to engage with businesses.
10. Phone: 88% of customers use phone calls for customer service interactions.
11. Live chat: 41% of customers prefer live chat for quick inquiries.
12. Social media: 34% of customers prefer social media to raise questions for customer
13. service teams. 1 in 5 Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X prefer direct social media messages.
14. Self-service portals and chatbots: 72% and 55% of customers have used self-service portals and chatbots respectively.
In terms of customer satisfaction for channels:
15. Chatbots: 78% of customers interacting with chatbots require human assistance.
16. Social media: 65% of people aged 18-34 believe social media is an effective channel for customer service.
17. Omnichannel support: Companies with omnichannel customer service strategies in place have 23 times higher customer satisfaction rates.
Tech advancements and customer expectations have driven a need for more digital customer experience options. An omnichannel strategy, where businesses are active on several channels, with a seamless flow of information, are on the rise.
Businesses are prioritizing omnichannel strategies to meet customers where they are most comfortable. This means that customer information is linked across all channels for a cohesive experience. Typically, companies use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems to manage customer details across multiple platforms. Advancements in technology have made it a much easier task to achieve this data flow. Have a read of this blog about workflow tools for small businesses for more information.
Technology in customer service
It wouldn’t be right not to mention AI in a customer service technology section, as AI tools are growing exponentially.
18. The market value of technology in customer service was valued at $308 million in 2022.
It is expected to go beyond $3 billion by 2032.
19. Around 79% of customer service professionals consider AI and automation tools as crucial to their strategies.
20. The chatbot industry alone is set to reach $3 billion by the end of this decade.
21. According to Hubspot, AI tools help save an average of over 2 hours per day using generative AI for response.
Reducing average call handling times and enhancing customer satisfaction levels are the main benefits of AI and automation.
A small contact center report highlighted the AI advantages:
- 92% report that AI saves time resolving customer issues.
- 87% say that AI reduces agent effort.
- 74% report that AI increases revenue.
Workforce and employment trends
22. Over 2.8 million Americans are currently employed as customer service representatives.
23. There were nearly 300,000 new customer service job postings in the first six months of 2024.
These statistics clearly reflect a growing demand for skilled customer service workers. Especially if customers still need to speak to a human after starting a conversation with a chatbot. However, both employee satisfaction and retention in these roles can be challenging.
24. Due to high turnover rates, call centers can see turnover rates reaching as high as 44% per year.
Factors contributing to high attrition include low pay, long hours, and high-stress levels – all of which can significantly impact employee satisfaction, and therefore, retention rates.
Challenges and solutions
25. 86% of agents state that customer expectations are higher than they used to be.
26. 61% of call center leaders say call volumes have increased since the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
This is despite more self-service solutions such as AI-based tools.
27. 77% of agents are facing the pressures of increasing workloads.
To meet rising customer expectations, consider investing in omnichannel support. There are many reasons why customers get in touch with your business. Complex issues may require phone support, but others – such as account management and simpler inquiries, can be solved with self-service options. Introducing FAQs, glossaries, chatbots, and live chat can alleviate many customer questions — all without interrupting your business.
The solution for increasing call volumes is actually the same as the first issue. Encouraging customers to use self-service channels empowers them to solve their problems quickly. Act proactively by delivering knowledge bases centered around commonly asked questions. This makes your customers feel confident that they can trust your business.
To mitigate rising work pressures, invest in tools that help your teams to manage their days. Consider empowering team members by allowing them to make decisions on your company’s behalf. Make sure you implement the mental health sources required to keep your teams healthy and to help avoid burnout.
Financial impact of customer service
What about if you get it wrong?
It’s important to explore the financial impact of poor customer experience. So you don’t find yourself in this position.
28. U.S. businesses risk losing $856 billion annually due to poor customer service.
29. Over half of consumers report going elsewhere after a negative customer experience with a brand.
30. 78% of customers have canceled their purchases due to poor customer experience. This has a direct impact on sales and revenue.
31. According to American Express, consumers are willing to spend 17% more on a company that provides outstanding customer service.
32. Businesses that prioritize exceptional customer service can grow revenues between 4% and 8% above their market average.
33. It costs you 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.
So ensure you’re focusing on keeping your existing customers happy and satisfied with their customer experiences.
Best practices and case studies
HNI Corporation is one of the largest global providers of office furniture and residential building products. This business shifted to a customer-centric perspective to focus on improving customer delivery. Through these efforts, customer satisfaction levels rose from 72% to over 95%.
Bell Canada is the nation’s largest communications company, providing mobile, TV, internet, and other services. Creating a dedicated customer experience team helped them to decrease technical support requests by 51% and improve their NPS score by 57%.
What these customer service stats means for the future
34. By 2030, estimates show that a billion service tickets will be raised automatically by customer-owned bots.
So automation and AI-tools are not going away anytime soon. Technology will become more advanced so chatbots will get better at responding to customer requests.
Companies are jumping on the train of believing stellar customer service equals more profits.
35. By 2025, 85% of decision-makers expect customer service to contribute a larger share of revenue.
