Cafés and Internet service providers rank first and last respectively

KUWAIT: Service Hero, the Kuwait-based and the region's only consumer powered customer satisfaction index, today released the results of its 2019 mid-year survey, which showed an overall customer satisfaction score of 76.1 points out of 100 across 18 industry categories in the country. With solid 83.9 points, 7.8 points higher than the country average, Cafés claimed the top ranking in the survey, while Internet Service Providers (ISPs) bottomed out with a score of 67 points.

The Customer Satisfaction Index, which is based on over 9,836 validated customer assessments, showed that no category met the criteria of 'incredible service' with 90 points and above to feature in the 'Heroic' rankings, while the majority of industries fell in the 'Ordinary' rankings with an average level of service. In addition to cafés, clothes, casual dining, new car sales, and fine dining grabbed ratings that are considered 'Good', offering service as customers' desire. Supermarkets, home furniture, fast food, local brands, Islamic banks, retail banks, Arab airlines, health clubs, electronics, car service, and private hospitals scored between 70 and 80 to be ranked as 'Ordinary', while mobile operators and ISPs were the lowest-scoring industries scoring under 60 with the bare minimum of what users expect and hence given 'Bland' grades.
The café industry has been consistently able to meet customer needs, with its satisfaction score only 1.9 points below expectations. It has improved 4.8 points since the same period of 2018 and most significantly, it has the highest Complaint Resolution score of all 18 categories listed in the Customer Satisfaction Index scoring a strong 85.5 points. Cafés in Kuwait also recorded the highest in-store satisfaction experience at 84.5 and enjoy very high scores of 88.7 points for weekly visits, which signify their success in building customer loyalty.
The Index shows that the promising scores cafes as an industry has achieved are a result of their sharp focus on elements that will lead to sustained customer satisfaction. They have the highest scores in four critical service dimensions that are important to their consumers, namely Staff Attitude (84.7), Product Quality (83.6), Speed (84.8), and Reliability (84.8).

On the other hand, at 67 points, ISPs fell short of customer expectations by an overwhelming 15.2 points as compared to the overall Index average. The results show that the industry's biggest detriment to achieving customer satisfaction is its 'Unheroic' score for Complaint Resolution at 56.5 points as a result of not delivering even the bare minimum level of service in quickly and effectively rectifying problems as they occur. The undesirable performance across three service indicators, which are Speed (65.8), Product Quality (71), and Staff Attitude (73.5) contributed to the significant drop in the overall customer satisfaction score of the industry.

ISPs are used daily by their customers and this led to the industry category's lowest satisfaction scores of weekly and monthly interaction/visits at 60.6 and 56.3 respectively. Furthermore, the industry also has the lowest score in interaction on the phone at 55.6 points - a dramatic 20 points below the country average for phone-based transactions. However, when the last transaction was conducted online, the ISPs scored higher at 74.4 points.

Commenting on the survey results, Faten Abu-Ghazaleh, President of Service Hero, said: "Customers in Kuwait desire high standards of service excellence from retailers and service providers and businesses have often failed to meet their expectations. With our Customer Satisfaction Index, we have been providing a platform for consumers to voice their feedback, thereby helping companies to improve their user experiences in line with our eight service benchmarks to improve loyalty, increase business growth and financial performance and boost their contribution to the economy."

"Cafés have showcased sustained performance and if they continue to offer good quality services, served by friendly staff in a quick manner, and handle complaints effectively, they will continue to lead other industries and pave the way for the fast expansion of local cafes in Kuwait as well as the entry of online apps for ordering coffee. ISPs, on the other hand, need to train their staff to resolve complaints, improve speed in a way that meets and exceeds their customers' satisfaction expectations. A continuing oversight on these aspects may lead to brand abandonments of traditional ISPs that are not affiliated with a mobile operator - a trend we have been witnessing already," Abu-Ghazaleh added.

Service Hero's Customer Satisfaction Index measures each industry category across up to eight service dimensions, which are reliability, speed, product quality, staff attitude, value for money, location, call center, and website quality. These dimensions are assessed on a 'before and after experience' basis to evaluate the difference between customer expectations of service and actual satisfaction with the service.
Service Hero adheres to ESOMAR principles (the European society of opinion and market research) and is overseen by an independent Advisory Council. The Advisory Council includes the Director of Research from the American Customer Satisfaction Index as well as academic and independent members from leading private universities in Kuwait and the UAE and established companies, such as the Boston Consulting Group, and Noor Investment Co.