#contactcenterworld, @DialogTech

Chicago, IL, USA, Dec, 2017 -- When consumers take to their smartphones en masse to research purchases, book appointments and buy goods and services — such as on Cyber Monday — businesses experience a corresponding, dramatic increase in inbound phone calls, according to a new study published today by DT University, the educational and training center of DialogTech.

The DT University study examined data from the DialogTech voice management platform on over 50 million consumer phone calls made in 2017 and over 630,000 calls to businesses during winter holiday shopping periods in over 40 industries, including retail, automotive, home services and maintenance, childhood education, construction, finance and health care. The study, which analyzed the entire context of the phone call, including what was said and the caller’s overall sentiment, found that inbound call volumes on Cyber Monday 2017 were 58% higher than the average daily call volumes the rest of the year.

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More and more holiday shopping is now done on smartphones. Research from Adobe found that smartphone-led mobile devices make up 54% of web visits and 37% of online sales on Black Friday 2017. Adobe also found that through 10 p.m. on Cyber Monday 2017, smartphones accounted for 40% of website visits, a 22% increase from last year, and revenue driven by smartphones grew 39%, hitting a record of $1.6 billion in sales.

"Whenever businesses experience significant increases in mobile shopping activity like on Cyber Monday, they also experience a corresponding jump in inbound calls," said Alain Stephan, SVP of Analytics Services at DialogTech. "It is crucial that brands provide these callers with personalized experiences and analyze these valuable interactions for insights to improve their marketing."

The DT University study also found that callers on Black Fridays are nearly 20% more negative than they are the rest of the year. Conversely, callers on Cyber Mondays are nearly 20% more positive than they are the rest of the year and 37% more positive than callers on Black Friday.

"Our caller sentiment analysis suggests that the winter holiday season, starting with family-filled Thanksgiving gatherings, make Black Friday one of the more stressful shopping days for consumers," said Stephan. "While shopping on Cyber Monday, which takes place well after the travel and commotion of Thanksgiving, is more stress-free, as reflected in much more positive caller sentiment."

A further examination of calls from prior winter holiday seasons from Black Friday to New Year’s Day found that consumers are also significantly more price-conscious during winter holiday shopping, expressing 22% greater price sensitivity than other times of the year.

#contactcenterworld, @DialogTech

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: DialogTech