The Irish Credit Union has retained the top spot on the league table for the best customer experience in Ireland for its tenth consecutive year, breaking every Customer Experience (CX) league table record globally.
That is according to the Ireland Customer Experience Report 2024, which found that 42% of companies and organisations had their scores fall on the previous year.
Overall, the CX score fell by just under 2%, yet despite the general drop, the Irish Credit Union along with other traditional staples topped the table, trailing ahead some of the largest companies to operate in Ireland.
“The credit union being in the top position is not surprising,” said Anna Horan, Marketing and International Business Lecturer at Munster Technological University (MTU).
Speaking to the , Ms Horan said the key factors owing to the success of credit unions are their consumer-facing brand and financial business model.
“Credit unions are not-for-profit. People know that the credit union is not trying to make money from them. They are designed to suit their members and that is something that should be used across products and services in general.”
Echoing Ms Horan, author of the CX report, Michael Killeen said Irish credit unions’ formula for success was down to putting members first.
“To have remained on top over the last 10 years is a remarkable CX story, because they listen carefully to their members, they understand them, and this enables them to customise solutions for their different life stages,” said Mr Killeen.
“That strong customer affinity is key.”
Pharmacies continue to lead in the retail sector, making up three of the top 10 companies with Life Pharmacy coming in second place, McCabe’s in seventh, and Hickey’s ninth.
Pharmacies have always found themselves quite high on the list, Ms Horan notes, citing the CX 2015 report which put both Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy in the top 10. However, in recent years, Boots have dropped significantly, placing just 38th in the 2024 report.
“It’s clear that Boots has fallen because Irish pharmacies are stepping in and expanding,” said Ms Horan, adding that a shift towards Irish businesses in general has become more prevalent since the pandemic.
“We are seeing a massive growth of Irish brands in general. Carraig Donn, Dunnes Stores and Supermacs are all up. Sam McCauley’s, another Irish pharmacy, is also doing well. This is definitely a good time for Irish brands.”
In addition, An Post’s three related companies all featured in the top 30, with the mail and parcels company coming third overall while An Post Money placed 16th and An Post Insurance came in at 22nd.
In another vote of confidence for Irish companies, Shannon Airport also landed in the top 10 for the first time, climbing 16 places to secure the fourth position.
On the other end of the spectrum, however, Ticketmaster, owned by California-headquartered Live Nation, remained close to the bottom of the table in the wake of the anger and frustration following their tiered pricing model for major concerts by acts including Oasis, Taylor Swift, and Coldplay.
The ticketing giant placed 143 out of 150 surveyed companies, with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission opening an investigation into the company on the back of 100 complaints it received.
Mr Killeen said Ticketmaster’s score had already fallen last year in the wake of its tiered pricing model for Taylor Swift and Coldplay concert ticket sales introduced during a cost-of-living crisis, saying the move was “ill-judged and caused a very negative reaction”.
“Rather than listen to their customers, they went on to introduce dynamic pricing this year and this led to the massive controversy we saw around the recent sale of Oasis Tickets,” Mr Killeen said.
Joining Ticketmaster at the bottom end of the list were Google, Instagram and Facebook, with TikTok, Temu and Amazon Prime Video also in the bottom 25 of the 150-company list.
“Meta and Google have Irish locations and are subject to far more oversight than the likes of TikTok and Temu,” says Ms Horan, adding that she was surprised that the Chinese-owned companies scored better than those more established in Europe and the US.
“I would have expected them to be at the very bottom as there have been many data breaches and data security issues,” Ms Horan says, adding that it may come down to naivety amongst consumers.
“There are serious data collection issues regarding these companies, but many consumers think positively towards them because they are getting great value. They just don’t realise the sacrifice of that value.”
The MTU lecturer also notes that many companies at the bottom of the list offer products and services that have traditionally been perceived as free or for an indirect cost.
“It’s a challenge for these companies to create a perception of value, so customers only encounter them if they have a negative experience,” says Ms Horan.
“We have expectations from Facebook and Instagram – that they won’t target us with ads for example, yet we expect to be able to consume their offerings free of charge.”
Ms Horan also notes the large consumer base amongst companies at the bottom, adding that a greater pool can lead to greater overall dissatisfaction.
“These companies have a lot of people to keep happy. It’s harder to keep a wider group happy or cater to a wider set of expectations, and sometimes, you simply can’t.”