Indian Consumers Spent 15 Billion Hours ‘On Hold’, Say Chatbots Have Raised Expectations
AI to bridge India’s customer service gap as 80% of consumers rely on chatbots for key services.
Despite artificial intelligence’s growing role in daily life, its time-saving capabilities are not helping reduce customer service wait times. According to recent research by AI platform ServiceNow, Indian consumers spent an incredible 15 billion hours waiting on hold in the past year.
The research also revealed that 80% of Indian consumers now use AI chatbots to check status of issues/complaints, recommending products and accessing self-help guides, with five out of six utilising AI tools to resolve queries and make decisions.
Over One-Third Customers ‘Frustrated’ With Service
While Indian customers experienced a modest 5% drop on waiting times compared to the previous year, 39% still wait on hold, in a queue, 36% are frustrated from being transferred to multiple people/departments, and 34% think organisations makes it intentionally difficult for them to register their complaints.
The top three demands from customers are: 49% want faster resolutions; 48% want better and qualified customer agents; and 46% demand less time on hold.
Cost Of Slow Service: 89% Consumers Could Switch Brands
The price of slow service is brand loyalty. The report showed that 89% of Indian consumers are willing to switch brands due to slow or inefficient service, and 84% would leave a negative review online or on social media due to poor service experiences.
Customer service agents estimate that a simple issue takes only 30 minutes to resolve, but consumers perceive the process takes an average of 3.8 days, indicating a major disconnect caused by fragmented systems and inefficiencies.
AI Adoption And Consumer Trust Surge In India
The report found that AI is embedded in the lives of Indian consumers: 84% rely on AI for shopping recommendations, 82% for food and dining suggestions, and 78% for checking investment options.
However, businesses spend an average of less than one day per week actually resolving customer issues, spending the other four days on chasing and waiting on teams’ responses, administrative tasks, promotional offers, training and breaks, research showed. Customer agents are held back as most of these tasks can be resolved faster via deployment of modern AI solutions.
Sumeet Mathur, senior vice president and managing director, ServiceNow India, said “Businesses willing to transform to fill the customer service gap and meet rising demands for speed, personalisation, and efficiency have a critical choice to make—embrace AI-driven efficiency or risk losing customer loyalty.”
Are Customer Service Agents Ready To Embrace AI?
There is a need for AI integration to improve efficiency and service quality, and research shows that customer service agents are ready to embrace it:
52% believe AI will enhance their role by freeing up time for problem-solving and customer care.
48% see AI as a tool to reduce workload.
42% believe it will expand their role and offer growth.
