COVID-19 Drives Decline In Customer Preference For Email: Study

Email is holding up as a communication medium. But it has slipped slightly from the beginning of the year, according to COVID-19 Reshapes The Global Customer Engagement Landscape, a study from Vonage, working with Market Knowledge Online.

The methods ranked among the top three customer-service channels are mobile phone call (66%), email (51%) and live chat, or messages inside a mobile app (22%).

But email fell by 5% between January and August, while messaging jumped by 5%. 

And email drew only18% when consumers listed their favorite method to communicate with businesses and service provides in general. In this metric, email remained flat from January to August.  

Phone, once again, led the way with a total of 56%. Mobile was highest among phone types, pulling 35%.  

In another finding, 65% in the U.S. used video chat in August -- up from 41% in January. And there were significant increases in other regions, with a global average of 68% usage in August -- rising from 49% in January. 

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Meanwhile, customer engagement has risen by 45% in the retail sector, 41% in home deliveries, 39% in education, 35% in media and entertainment and 27% in banking, finance and insurance.  

The biggest consumer frustrations in North America are as follows: 

  • When there aren’t enough options to contact a business to suit my needs at this time — 35% 
  • When I receive a message update but I can’t reply directly — 30%
  • When I’m using an app but I have to open a separate one to contact someone — 22%
  • When I can’t switch between different communication channels — 17%

Vonage and Market Knowledge Online surveyed 5,000 consumers across 14 countries in four continents. 

1 comment about "COVID-19 Drives Decline In Customer Preference For Email: Study".
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  1. Jonathan May from HorseTV Global, October 26, 2020 at 2:12 p.m.

    What do the numbers look like for telephone by businesses to contact customers?  No one answers their phone anymore due to scammers ruining our telecommunications system, and fewer ever respond and return voice mail messages.  Phone may be preferred by consumers to talk with businesses, but that's only one direction.

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