Asos and New Look shine in customer experience research as Zara flops

Unified customer intelligence startup Chattermill has analysed feedback from over 152,000 responses to some of the most popular fashion retail brands, revealing Asos and New Look as the ones with the best customer experience.

It looked at publicly available Trustpilot reviews, registered from 1st January 2021 to 4th September 2022, from customers buying at Asos, H&M, New Look, Next and Zara.

Asos has received consistently high scores over the past 12 months, while New Look is on an upward climb after a relatively low period.

The data indicates a significant decline in customer loyalty across the retail industry as a whole. The decrease can be linked to a rise in customer returns (and the hassle tied to it), complaints about delivery, and inconsistent product sizing and fitting.

Dmitry Isupov, Chief Strategy & Insights Officer and Co-Founder of Chattermill, says: “This data is a useful barometer to show how customer experience issues can directly impact customer retention rates. A customer experience in retail is full of nuances and variables.”

“But the voice of the customer is there, and brands need to start unifying, listening and analysing their data to ensure they can compete as the competition continues to grow.”

The top 10 themes most negatively mentioned by retail customers:

1. Order accuracy and no delivery

2. Refunds

3. Quality

4. Returns and exchanges

5. Responsiveness

6. Contact methods

7. Problem resolution

8. Size and fit

9. Speed of delivery

10. Discounts and promotions

Zara is the retailer with the lowest rating given by customers. The main reason for this is how it handles returns and refunds.

The data shows it is consistent with the amount of negative feedback it is receiving while other retailers are seen to be making improvements. 

One of the biggest drivers for customer dissatisfaction is related to issues registered with size and fitting for the brand’s products.

According to the reviews, Zara has the worst size and fit out of the five retailers analysed. The products with the most problematic sizes are trousers, dresses and jeans. These are also the top three products most frequently returned by customers.

Speaking about their discontent with the sizing of Zara’s clothes, one customer said, “The trousers are all cut far too small. Actually, I wear size 38 in pants. At Zara, I’d have to wear a 42 to match the trousers. And unfortunately, this is not just the case with trousers.”

“Even with tight-fitting tops, I have to wear at least one size bigger to fit. It is not the case with other stores. I’ve always tried to find smart clothes at Zara, but unfortunately, I’m always disappointed.”