Scottish consumers the most demanding in the UK

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Scottish consumers the most demanding in the UK.

New research conducted by ContactEngine and YouGov* found that Scottish expectation for good customer service has overtaken the notably high precedent set by the demanding English.

ContactEngine's study found that 58% of Scottish consumers would never use a company again after just two poor experiences, compared to 48% of English consumers. This result positioned Scotland as the most demanding for customer service of all the Home Nations.

Not only are Scottish consumers less accepting of poor customer service than their English counterparts, this tolerance is rapidly decreasing. Overall, only 3% of Scots considered themselves to be more tolerant than they were three years ago compared to 6% of English consumers.

Compared to the demanding Scottish customers, consumers in the North West of England and Northern Ireland proved to be the most loyal to companies after a poor experience, with one in ten willing to give companies more than four chances.

Furthermore, the findings by ContactEngine, specialists in helping businesses improve their customers' journey, show British intolerance of bad service is at an all time high. With 94% of Brits claiming that they are less tolerant than they were three years ago, Britains are the most demanding customers in the world.

"Our research shows a dramatic increase in Scottish expectations of customer service from three years ago," explains Dr. Mark K. Smith, CEO of ContactEngine. "The change of Scottish customers in comparison to British consumers is of interest for any business operating within that country. Now that service in the U.K. has improved over the years, consumer expectations are also increasing. The result of this research indicates that Scottish businesses must work hardest of all to retain customers, with their consumers proving to be the least lenient in the U.K., they can no longer hide behind any poor service."

* Research polled more than 7000 consumers worldwide.