Consumers Demand More Self-Service Options

Study results reflecting increase over last year are symbolic of what lies ahead.

A growing legion of North American consumers use self-service in their everyday lives, and the latest research from NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) shows an increasing percentage of individuals actually favor businesses that offer “do-it-myself” options.

Survey reveals that 86 percent of U.S. and Canadian consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company that offers the flexibility to interact using self-service – whether via the Internet, on a mobile device or at a kiosk or ATM. That’s an increase of 11 percent over those who gave the same response in last year’s study. Moreover, 56 percent say their likelihood to use self-service has increased over the past year.

In addition to being more likely to do business with enterprises offering self-service, 66 percent of the survey respondents say the availability of self-service technologies creates a more positive perception of the deployer’s brand.

Speed, convenience and ease of use are identified most frequently by respondents when asked why they would choose self-service over personal assistance in each of four industry sectors:
• financial (faster–70 percent, more convenient–67 percent, easier–52 percent);
• retail (faster–68 percent, more convenient–64 percent, easier–52 percent);
• travel (faster–63 percent, more convenient–61 percent, easier–60 percent); and
• healthcare (faster–53 percent, more convenient–50 percent, easier–47 percent).

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