What customers say they want and what actually makes them happy are often different things.
We reviewed the latest research on customer support expectations, along with data from our own implementations, to find out what matters to eCommerce customers in 2026. Some findings will confirm your instincts, and a few may surprise you.
Finding #1: Speed Beats Everything (Including Empathy)
When customers rank what matters most in support interactions:
- ●Speed of resolution: 89% rank as critical
- ●Accuracy of answer: 84% rank as critical
- ●Empathy/friendliness: 52% rank as critical
Empathy still counts, but speed is the baseline. Once the answer is right and fast, empathy is a bonus. An empathetic reply that takes 12 hours frustrates customers more than a curt one that arrives instantly.
The implication: Optimize for speed first. Empathy matters, but not at the expense of response time.
Finding #2: Customers Don't Care If It's AI (If It Works)
This stat surprises most brand owners:
62% of customers are comfortable interacting with AI support if it resolves their issue.
Many of the remaining 38% who "prefer humans" change their minds once they experience good AI. What they dislike is usually the bad chatbots they've met before, not AI as such.
What customers care about:
- ●Did I get the right answer?
- ●Was it fast?
- ●Could I reach a human if needed?
If AI delivers on those, most customers prefer it to waiting for a human.
The implication: Customers want their issue resolved, whoever resolves it. If AI does, they're happy.
Finding #3: Self-Service Is Preferred (When It's Good)
81% of customers attempt self-service before contacting support.
They search your site, check FAQs and look at order tracking, and they only reach out when that fails. That has two consequences:
- ●Every support ticket represents a self-service failure. Something in your documentation, site UX, or automated flows didn't work.
- ●Customers who contact you are already frustrated. They've tried to solve it themselves and couldn't.
So the best support strategy is better self-service that prevents tickets in the first place, more than better agents.
The implication: Invest in proactive information such as size guides, shipping calculators, order tracking and clear policies, so the ticket never happens.
Finding #4: Channel Preference Has Shifted
2020: Phone and email dominated 2026: Chat and self-service dominate
Current channel preferences for eCommerce support:
- ●Chat/messaging: 43%
- ●Email: 28%
- ●Self-service/FAQs: 18%
- ●Phone: 11%
Younger customers (18-34) prefer chat at even higher rates (67%).
Phone, still the most expensive support channel, is now the least preferred. Customers would rather type a question and get an answer than call.
The implication: If you're still investing heavily in phone support, you're spending a lot to serve a minority preference. Move resources to chat and self-service.
Finding #5: Proactive Beats Reactive
Customers were asked: "What would improve your support experience?"
The #1 answer was neither faster responses nor friendlier agents. It was:
"Tell me about problems before I have to ask."
- ●Shipping delay? Tell me before I track and discover it
- ●Item out of stock? Tell me before I order
- ●Issue with my order? Tell me before it arrives wrong
Proactive communication reduces perceived support issues by up to 70%, even when the underlying problem is still there.
The implication: Use automation for proactive outreach as well as reactive support. Shipping notifications, delay alerts and delivery confirmations prevent tickets and improve how customers see you.
Finding #6: One-Touch Resolution Is the Goal
Customer satisfaction correlates directly with how many interactions it takes to resolve an issue:
- ●One interaction: 92% satisfaction
- ●Two interactions: 74% satisfaction
- ●Three+ interactions: 43% satisfaction
Every back-and-forth email, every "let me check and get back to you" and every transfer to another agent drags satisfaction down. A fast first reply helps less than resolving the whole issue in one interaction.
The implication: Give your support (human or AI) what it needs to fully resolve issues. When your AI escalates, make sure the human has the full context and the authority to resolve it on first touch.
Finding #7: After-Hours Matters More Than You Think
When do customers contact support?
- ●9am-5pm business hours: 34%
- ●5pm-10pm evening: 41%
- ●10pm-9am overnight/early morning: 25%
Two-thirds of support requests come outside traditional business hours. Brands that only staff 9-5 miss most customer interactions or make customers wait 12-16 hours for a reply.
The implication: 24/7 coverage simply matches when your customers shop and need help.
Finding #8: Post-Purchase Support Drives Loyalty
Most brands focus support on pre-purchase (converting shoppers) and problem resolution (fixing issues). Research shows post-purchase support drives the most loyalty:
- ●Proactive order updates: +34% repeat purchase rate
- ●Easy returns process: +29% repeat purchase rate
- ●Post-delivery check-in: +23% repeat purchase rate
A customer who never has a problem but feels well supported becomes a repeat buyer. A customer whose problem is resolved perfectly becomes an advocate.
The implication: Use support to build relationships across the whole customer lifecycle, beyond fixing problems.
What This Means for Your Support Strategy
Based on the data, customers want:
- ●Fast answers: Instant beats empathetic-but-slow
- ●Accurate resolution: Right answer, first time
- ●Available when they need it: 24/7, not business hours
- ●Channel choice: Chat > email > phone
- ●Self-service that works: Don't make them contact you
- ●Proactive communication: Tell them before they ask
- ●One-touch resolution: Don't make them repeat themselves
Nothing on that list is about how you deliver it. Customers don't mind whether a human, AI or automation answers, as long as they get the result.
The brands winning at support in 2026 are the ones that give customers fast, accurate, available and proactive help, whatever the size of their support team. How you get there is up to you.
Ready to deliver what customers actually want? AI customer support delivers speed, accuracy, and 24/7 availability, exactly what the data says matters most. See how it works