Which Czech brands provided the best customer service in 2021?

The Czech Republic isn't known for its customer service, and for the first time since 2017 the overall situation did not improve, according to a ranking by consultancy KPMG.

KPMG assessed customer experience based on six pillars: integrity, time and effort on the part of the customer, meeting expectations, problem-solving, personalized treatment, and empathy.

For the first time since 2017, the customer experience in the entire Czech market has not improved.

“The pandemic, which has turned the attention of many companies to solving logistics, capacity or even existential problems, has had a hand in the stagnation,” said Lukáš Cingr, who heads KPMG’s customer and digital department.

“Over time, the impact of the individual pillars on the overall customer experience changes slightly. One of the trends is the decline in the impact of integrity, or trustworthiness, on the overall score. Treating a customer as an individual, which is considered the strongest pillar in many countries around the world, is practically unchanged in the Czech Republic,” said Cingr.

The best service in 2021 was provided by delivery company Zásilkovna, which knocked the previous leader AirBank into second place. Cosmetics firm Yves Rocher came in third, with cheese maker La Formaggeria Gran Moravia and health aids store DM rounding out the top five. Due to the pandemic, the customers’ online experiences became much more important than in the past.

“Zásilkovna received high ratings in all six criteria. Customers rate it best in the pillar of time and effort, which shows that it satisfies customer demand for fast and easy delivery service. It helped the brand that, together with online food retailers, it is the hero of a pandemic crisis,” said Jan Klimeš KPMG customer experience expert.

Zásilkovna delivers packages and also operates locked boxes that can be used to receive deliveries. Customers can go to the nearest set of boxes to their home and enter a unique code to open to one with their package.

Its app was the third most downloaded app for Android devices in the Czech Republic. Customers also appreciated a new service that allowed individuals to send packages to other individuals, and not just receive packages from businesses.

Second-place Air Bank continues to develop in the direction that previously won it first place: as a modern bank with minimal fees, which is based on sincere dealings with the client and the ability to handle everything in a well-functioning app. In the last two years, Air Bank has also expanded its investment opportunities in mobile banking, KPMG said.

Yves Rocher had high ratings in the pillars of time and effort as well as integrity. Customers were impressed with the e-shop and loyalty program offering promotions and discounts.

The restaurant and fast food sectors have the most satisfied customers, followed by the retail sector. Compared to previous surveys, the most progress was made in the area of personal care and expectation management. The travel and hotel sector has recovered from 2020’s pandemic-related challenges and is slowly returning to the levels of previous years.

The KPMG experts ranked the 100 best customer experiences based on the results of the annual customer experience study. This year's study, “What Machines Cannot Do,” focused on how companies can digitally improve the lives of their customers.

Customers still appreciate the human touch. “Technology cannot yet fully think and satisfy the human need for empathy. From the results of the study, we see that customers better appreciate those companies that can involve a human employee in the process at the appropriate time to help solve technical problems or patiently explain to customers how to use digital tools,” Klimeš said.

The study is based on responses from 5,065 representative Czech people over 18 from May to June 2021. Consumers evaluated brands from nine industries with which they had come into contact in the last six months. Each customer rated an average of 10 brands, so in total, the study is based on 50,000 customer reviews.  

Source: KPMG