Tesco’s secondary services hold the key to regaining customer loyalty

Satmetrix has announced its UK Net Promoter Customer Loyalty Benchmark Report, which examines the Net Promoter Scores (NPS) of the UK’s leading 60 brands.

The NPS benchmark incorporates 11,000 customer views around the ease of use, access to support, company reputation and value for money of brands in nine UK sectors including finance, insurance, mobile and internet.  

While the findings showcase First Direct as a clear leader in terms of outright NPS score, perhaps the most revealing results are those of Tesco Mobile and Tesco Bank, which are both held in high esteem by customers, despite the catastrophic year Tesco has had as a brand.

The supermarket chain is under fire following the announcement of its worst-ever annual financial results, a record loss of £6.4bn between February 2014-2015.

Last October, news broke of an accountancy ‘black hole’ at the company, which had inflated accounts by over £260 million, wiping more than £2.5 billion from its market value.

Tesco’s chief executive, Dave Lewis highlighted “an erosion of competitiveness over recent years” and a breakdown in trust and loyalty from its customers as being responsible for the results.

However, every little bit of good news helps, and Tesco bosses may be buoyed by the NPS of Tesco Mobile, which has the highest mobile industry NPS at +38, and the consumer credit card from Tesco Bank (+23), which was beaten only by Santander (+28) – extra services that Satmetrix says Tesco should use more effectively in its bid to win back customers’ loyalty.

“The Net Promoter leaders are more likely to enjoy high customer retention, lower customer acquisition costs, and ultimately benefit from more sustainable growth,” says Brendan Rocks, head of data science at Satmetrix.

“Many of the companies at the bottom of the rankings have huge potential to improve, and Satmetrix’s research brings to light the areas of the customer experience where they lag competitors.”

While Tesco’s secondary units may well be performing far better than its food retail unit, both services have some distance to go to reach the level of satisfaction being delivered to customers of First Direct.

The bank received an NPS score of +73, and is leaps and bounds above the next highest NPS score of Nationwide Building Society, which received a +43.

A recent MoneySavingExpert’s poll (which somewhat crudely asks the banks’ own customers to rate their service as either ‘great’, ‘OK’ or ‘poor’) also found that 92% of First Direct’s customers polled its service as ‘great’.