Like everything, our complaints are going digital

Brought to you by Retail Insider and K3

The growth of online shopping is leading to some interesting trends in terms of customer complaints and one of the more worrying involves the rise of the ‘buy now, pay later’ phenomenon.

Recent research from independent complaints website Resolver highlights that these are only the 40th most complained about product or service but it predicts that they will rapidly rise up the table as the take-up of these sorts of credit payment methods takes hold.

They are particularly popular with younger shoppers who enjoy the seamless way in which this new form of delayed payment can be accessed online at the checkout. But one of the complaints from customers is that it can be hard to keep track of repayment dates, which leads to them having to make higher interest charges on their purchases.

The research also found that for the first time the volume of complaints about online shopping has overtaken those about high street retailers. The number of these types of complaints rose 84% over the past year. The continued growth in online shopping has also had a major impact on the level of complaints around parcel deliveries. Over the past 12 months they have jumped 203%.

It is a similar story with the way people consume media. The rise of film and TV streaming has inevitably led to a leap in the number of complaints about such services – with an increase of 106% over the past year.

As the growth in consumers’ use of digital across all areas of life continues it is inevitable that complaints about related products and services will increase. What it also absolutely the case is that these complaints will be made digitally. Retailers must therefore not only try and reduce the level of complaints about their products and service but also ensure that they make it easy for customers to make their complaints!

K3 Retail partners with businesses to provide connected technologies based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 so retailers can reach their goals now and in the future. In a size that best fits future plans wherever you need it – Cloud, Hybrid or On-premise. Our solutions drive more than 800 international retail brands from Charles Tyrwhitt and The White Company to Ryman and Sue Ryder, Hobbycraft, Wasabi and Ted Baker, K3 Retail is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and the UK’s leading Microsoft Dynamics retail partner.