Customer satisfaction levels lowest since 2015, UKCSI finds

UK customer satisfaction levels remain near their lowest level since 2015, the twice-yearly report by The Institute of Customer Service on the state of service has revealed.

The latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), which benchmarks customer satisfaction of over 260 of the UK’s leading businesses and has run since 2008, is 76.1 (out of 100). This is almost the same level as a year ago and only 0.3 points higher than in July 2024. 

The UKCSI found that 64% of employees surveyed indicated that they spend part of their time resolving issues caused by service failings, spending an average of four days per month dealing with service failures or problems, an increase from 3.3 days in July 2024. Extrapolated across full-time employees in the UK economy, this suggests a monthly cost to UK organisations of £7.3bn.

Close to one-third (31%) of customers would also prefer to receive excellent service, even if it means paying more, the UKCSI has also revealed. This suggests organisations consistently achieving strong levels of customer satisfaction are much better placed than others to grow revenues by building relationships with customers for whom quality of service is an “essential” component of an organisation’s value proposition.  

For individual company performance, Timpson once again scored the highest average satisfaction rating for January 2025, repeating its leading performance in the July 2024 Index, while M&S (food) comes out as the highest-rated food retailer. 

The grocer has reported growing food volume and share value for four consecutive years, evidencing a strong return on investment from good customer service.

Across the service sectors more broadly, the UKCSI revealed that customers are most likely to have increased their spend because of the quality of service provided by an organisation in the retail, tourism and automotive sectors. 

Across the retail (food) sector specifically, availability and range of products and service and friendly, helpful staff are the “key aspects” of service that customers want organisations to improve. Customer satisfaction  is 79.9 (out of 100), slightly higher, by 0.6 points, than in January 2024 and fewer customers experienced a problem with an organisation compared to January 2024.

13.1% of customers had a problem or bad experience with an organisation in this sector, however, the incidence of problems is higher than in other highly rated sectors for customer satisfaction such as Retail (Non-food, 10.6%) and Banks and Building Societies (11.1%).

Across the retail non-food sector, the report showed that customer satisfaction is 80.6 (out of 100), a slight increase of 0.2 points, compared to January 2024. Only 10.6% of customers experienced a problem with an organisation, the lowest level since July 2016. 

According to the index, the highest rated organisations in the sector are John Lewis (85.5 out of 100), Holland and Barrett (84.1) and Amazon.co.uk (83.7).

Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service, said: “As we enter an economically uncertain 2025, businesses should be looking at every opportunity to boost productivity and revenue. This year’s UKCSI demonstrates a compelling case for why customer service matters to the UK economy reflecting the clear relationship between customer satisfaction, productivity, and growth.

“Across the UK economy, service failures are costing billions a month in employees’ time and subsequent lost revenue. We can only achieve sustainable growth in the economy through long-term investment in products, services, and customer experience, as evidence shows us that organisations who consistently outperform their sector for customer satisfaction achieve stronger financial results.”