51 percent of customer service journeys now start on third-party platforms, including search engines, AI apps (like ChatGPT), and social media.
That's according to Gartner's latest industry report, which highlighted Google, YouTube, and ChatGPT as the three most common third-party platforms customers start from.
The trend is particularly pronounced amongst Gen Z, with 74 percent of customers in this generation initiating their journeys through third-party platforms.
While Gartner doesn’t delve into the reasons behind the trend, its statistics signal high trust levels in these platforms, including GenAI solutions, despite widespread hallucinations.
That trust seemingly extends to community support sites, with Reddit another fast-growing channel.
Yet, Gartner’s report perhaps also reflects the glut of ineffective, previous-generation self-service tools and the never-ending issue of brands burying contact information on their sites.
Repeated negative experiences like these seemingly drive customers to explore new routes to resolving their issues.
Whatever the case, Keith McIntosh, Senior Principal of Research in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, said: "Third-party platforms have become the new front door for customer service.
Organizations must rethink their service strategies to account for the platforms their customers already know and trust.
These companies must also be cognizant of customer AI assistants (or "machine customers"), which - in the coming years – will be native on search engines and mobile devices.
In February, Google released a patent for one such on-device bot that answers incoming calls, beckoning a new age for business-to-AI communications.
Only 22% of Customers Rely on First-Party Customer Channels for End-to-End Service
According to Gartner, just 22 percent of customers start, stay, and resolve their queries entirely using first-party company channels.
Meanwhile, customers enjoyed a 62 percent average success rate in resolving their issues through Google and YouTube.
That gap is a concern. Fortunately, McIntosh weighed in on how to close it. He said:
This disparity emphasizes the need for companies to enhance their self-service offerings and integrate advanced AI technologies to meet evolving customer expectations.
"This strategy not only streamlines service delivery but also aligns with the diverse preferences of customers navigating multiple service modalities," concluded the Gartner man.