'Tis the Season to Be Talking - The Phone Call Is Valued When Consumers Are Shopping This Holiday Season

LONDON, December 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

New research has revealed that consumers in the US are more twice as likely to make a phone call when making a purchase, as opposed to purely transacting online. 53% of consumers said that speaking to a company helps when making a purchase, versus just 16% saying they prefer not to. The findings of the research, carried out by call-based marketing automation company ResponseTap, reveal that despite efforts to serve consumers online only, the phone call still plays a critical role at point of sale with voice helping to increase sales across the board.

During the festive season, brands are in the midst of their busiest sales period of the year. The focus is on omnichannel retailing, offering a seamless approach across all customer channels; these findings underline the importance of the phone call as part of the customer journey.

The research revealed that men (54%) and women (53%) value speaking to a company when buying a product in equal measure, and that there is also very little deviation between age groups. Interestingly, the age range who find that speaking to the company helps the most is the 25-34 year olds, with 57% saying that it helps. Just under half of 16-24 year olds asked feel the same way, showing that the younger age ranges still find that making those phone calls is of importance to them, with age ranges above 35 ranging between 52% and 55% in agreement.

US regions showed interesting skews to the findings, with the Midwest being most likely to desire a phone call (55%) over web-only purchasing (17%), and the South being the region to show the greatest indifference at 52%; however, over half of respondents asked are still in want of a phone call instead of only buying online.

"There is a misconception in the market that younger consumers avoid phone calls over dealing purely online, and that with older consumers vice versa. Equally there is the myth that women use the phone more than men, but our research debunks these marketing myths," explains Bhavesh Vaghela, Chief Marketing Officer for ResponseTap.

"Millennials are often considered as the most digital savvy group, but this does not mean that they don't value or need the human voice.  For many, the phone call brings reassurance before making a purchasing decision and brands need to be aware of this. In fact, a successful phone call in the customer experience will increase the likelihood of a sale.  This research show voice is key to building a real relationship with the consumer and therefore helps improve brand advocacy."

The ResponseTap whitepaper 'Voice as the relationship milestone' is available to download at: http://bit.ly/US_Voice

About ResponseTap 

ResponseTap Call-based Marketing Automation takes call tracking to another level and amplifies the depth and breadth of data across the end-to-end customer journey creating relevance and insight at every click. The addition of the telephone call to your online metrics lets you see the whole journey, adding valuable sales attribution back to marketing while improving the overall customer experience. Over 1,600 brands use ResponseTap - including Aviva, Hiscox, TUI, Wickes, and What Car?.

SOURCE ResponseTap