Customer data reveals ASOS, New Look have best customer experience - Zara has the worst

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Nov 16, 2022

As Black Friday fast approaches, new UK data shows the best fashion retailers for customer experience. The best? ASOS and New Look. But Zara isn’t so strong.
At least, that’s according customer intelligence start-up Chattermill, which has analysed feedback from over 152,000 responses via Trustpilot across 1 January-4 September to some of the most popular fashion retail brands.

But, importantly, the data also indicates a “significant decline in customer loyalty across the retail industry as a whole”.

Top performer ASOS “has received consistently high scores over the past 12 months”, while New Look “is on an upward climb after a relatively low period”.

However, Zara has the lowest rating from customers, with the report citing how the retailer handles returns and refunds. “The data shows Zara is consistent with the amount of negative feedback they are receiving while other retailers are seen to be making improvements”, it said. 

Of course, we have to remember that unhappy consumers are often more likely to leave a review than happy consumers are so that can skew the overall results. And Zara is clearly doing plenty right as its sales figures show.

Meanwhile, that “significant decline in customer loyalty” can be linked to a rise in customer returns (and the hassle tied to it), complaints about delivery, and inconsistent product sizing and fitting, the report claims.

“One of the biggest drivers for customer dissatisfaction is related to issues registered with size and fitting for the brand’s products”, it said. The products with the most problematic sizes are trousers, dresses and jeans. These are also the top three products most frequently returned by customers.

The 10 themes most negatively mentioned by retail customers are topped by Order Accuracy and No Delivery; followed by Refunds; Quality Returns and Exchanges; Responsiveness;  Contact Methods; Problem Resolution; Size & Fit; Speed of Delivery; and Discounts and Promotions.

Dmitry Isupov, Chief Strategy & Insights Officer and co-founder of Chattermill, said: “This data is a useful barometer to show how customer experience issues can directly impact customer retention rates. A customer experience in retail is full of nuances and variables. But the voice of the customer is there, and brands need to start unifying, listening and analysing their data to ensure they can compete as the competition continues to grow.”