Customer satisfaction and retention is of utmost importance for firms. One way to achieve the needed loyalty is to provide an excellent and modern customer service that orients towards clientele’s desires. The objective of this paper is to gather insights into the wants of the case organizations’ customers. Despite its popularity, a large Swiss retailer faces similar challenges. Its customer care center already provides satisfying and high-quality customer service. Nevertheless, the expectations of customers regarding new contact channels and the introduction of AI have not been explored to the full extent yet. Customer satisfaction and retention is of utmost importance for firms. One way to achieve the needed loyalty is to provide an excellent and modern customer service that orients towards clientele’s desires. The objective of this paper is to gather insights into the wants of the case organizations’ customers. Despite its popularity, a large Swiss retailer faces similar challenges. Its customer care center already provides satisfying and high-quality customer service. Nevertheless, the expectations of customers regarding new contact channels and the introduction of AI have not been explored to the full extent yet. Customer satisfaction and retention is of utmost importance for firms. One way to achieve the needed loyalty is to provide an excellent and modern customer service that orients towards clientele’s desires. The objective of this paper is to gather insights into the wants of the case organizations’ customers. Despite its popularity, a large Swiss retailer faces similar challenges. Its customer care center already provides satisfying and high-quality customer service. Nevertheless, the expectations of customers regarding new contact channels and the introduction of AI have not been explored to the full extent yet.

To provide a solution to the issue, a scientific study examining the opinions of almost 5000 individuals including already-existing customers and students has been conducted. The participants were asked to fill out an online survey based on the research questions of the thesis at hand. The results were then processed and evaluated quantitatively. In the entire paper, more importance is attributed to the opinions of existing customers of the retailer as the sample is more significant and their satisfaction plays directly into the organization’s revenues.

The majority of the total customer sample comprised of 4696 participants rejects the introduction of AI measures in customer service. The main reasons for the refusal are the appreciation for personal contact, the fear of jobs lost and distrust in the digital agents. Only a small minority of roughly 5% of the respondents unconditionally desires AI in customer service. The potential implementation of AI at the organization's customer care would impact the satisfaction of the clientele mostly in a negative way. Therefore, the author advises against the introduction of AI. To find out the helpfulness and popularity of the existing ways to contact the firm, the participants were asked to indicate their favorite five contact channels. The most desired channels include contact form, e-mail, telephone, text message and Whatsapp in decreasing order. Surprisingly, only the first three out of the most popular five channels are available yet. Consequently, the author recommends the introduction of text messaging or Whatsapp. A proper cost-benefit analysis as well as examinations regarding interfaces and the financial and organizational feasibility are outstanding.