The year 2021 was a prolonged tug of war between struggles in our daily lives brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to return to pre-coronavirus life. But many Korean companies managed to enhance customer satisfaction amid the unprecedented pandemic situation, according to an annual survey by the Korea Productivity Center on Monday.

The KPC’s National Customer Satisfaction Index, or NCSI, for 2021 logged 78.1 points, up 1.1 points from 2020 and the highest since the survey began in 1998.

This means that despite the pandemic-hit socioeconomic challenges, Korean businesses worked to better serve the needs of customers.

The survey was conducted on 91,697 customers in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju who used the products and services from 333 companies and colleges in 80 different business sectors.

The KPC is a subsidiary of the Trade Ministry, established in 1957 to support Korean industries’ productivity enhancement.

Ranking the highest score of 84 was Severance Hospital in Seoul, one of the largest and oldest hospitals in the country. Samsung C&T, who ranked top last year, was down to second. Following the builder, five runner-ups were all hospitals, reflecting their crucial role in tackling the public health crisis.

The five were Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Korea University Anam Hospital and Konkuk University Medical Center.

Industries that showed the most improvement in customer satisfaction included educational services, finance and insurance, wholesale and retail. Also, businesses in health and social care, durable goods manufacturing, transportation and warehouse operation, and electricity, gas, and air-conditioning showed gains in NCSI.

As for educational services, two-year colleges showed a remarkable improvement, up six points to reach 74, according to the data. The center said many colleges have worked on fixing glitches in online classes by listening to students‘ feedback and demands.

Business sectors that showed a decline in customer satisfaction were water supplies, waste disposal and raw material recycling, management of business facilities, business support services and rental services. Customers have had trouble with trusting the cleanliness of tap water due to an incident in 2020 when worms were found in Incheon tap water, the center said. Also, it was difficult for customers to rent cars in domestic tourist sites since travelers had to stay in the country amid the travel restrictions worldwide.

Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance has topped the damage insurance sector for the 21st consecutive year, the NCSI said. 

The company attributes digital transformation as a critical factor contributing to customer convenience. In response to rising demand for contact-free communication, the company has aggressively integrated its customer services into mobile platforms. In particular, since last October tasks such as making payments or modifying contracts can now be carried out through mobile websites, sparing clients the trouble of downloading and installing a separate app.

The identity authentication procedure required when performing such tasks has also been simplified, the NCSI noted. A step as simple as entering a password or verifying through Kakao Pay can now replace the hassle of traditional bank-issued authorization certificates.

The company added that various customer-oriented services have been introduced to enhance client satisfaction. One such service is “Anyfit,” a mobile health platform that compensates physical activities with reward points that can be used to pay insurance.

Safeguarding clients against unfair business practices is another area Samsung’s insurance arm has been devoting efforts to. In 2014, the insurance affiliate launched the Consumer Protection Committee to preventatively address consumer complaints at the executive level. Consumers also have a say, notably through the Customer Panel System, as are seniors prompting digital inclusion for older clients.

In the milk and fermented milk category, Korea Yakult won first place for the 24th year in a row, garnering 79 points. It has secured its lead since 1998 when the NCSI began, the KPI said. 

Kickstarting its business with its flagship probiotic drink Yakult, Yakult Korea has since steered the fermented dairy industry, introducing various functional probiotics drinks such as Helicobacter Project Will, Coopers and MPRO3.

The center credits its advanced probiotics research technology as the principal drive behind the company’s 24-year reign. The strong technology research that spanned half a century and investments hovering over 100 billion won have allowed the company to recently make its foray into the business-to-business market.

March 2019 marks a major milestone for the company, when Korea Yakult first sold its raw lactobacillus probiotics to a corporate buyer, a major leap from its decadeslong door-to-door sales model for dairy products.

The B2B business took off even more aggressively with the launch of HyLabs last May. The new brand, dedicated to B2B transactions, has successfully rolled out a series of health-improving chemical substances. Its probiotics products include the fat-burning “Kill Fat” to the skin care compound “HY7714.” Transaction counterparties mounted up to as many as ten in number, with cumulative sales volume amounting to ten tons.

“The Korea Yakult research team has worked to localize microbial strains and develop the functionality of probiotics“, said Lee Jung-lyoul, head of the R&D Division at Korea Yakult. “We plan to bring our B2B business abroad to rev up our growth engine.”

In the postal services sector, Korea Post took the lead, ranking 70th out of the total 333 institutions surveyed.

Since its establishment in 1884, Korea Post stands as the country’s longest established government organization responsible for postal and financial services.

The expansion of post-to-door delivery service has been at the core of enhancing customer convenience, the institution said. The service has been playing a key role in providing stable logistics services for customers experiencing frequent delays over protests and strikes from private sector door-to-door deliverymen.

The service has largely benefitted rural inhabitants who have limited access to such public facilities,

The post agency has also scaled up its incorporation of digital technologies to keep clients informed of their tracking details. Specifically, clients receive push notifications of expected delivery time on their smartphones, and can easily change their pick-up spot through a mobile application.

Another customer-oriented service brought by the organization is its unmanned postal kiosk service, which has helped reduce waiting times for customers and effectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis, officials of the institution said.

Various community projects have also been at the forefront of the government agency‘s efforts to serve the public interest. One such commitment involves supporting local farms, retailers and small businesses through its Korea Post Shopping platform, an online store dedicated to promoting local food producers and connecting them with consumers.

Lotte Homeshopping is another noteworthy business, the NCSI noted, as it tied for first place in the at-home TV shopping category along with CJ Onstyle.

The TV shopping channel successfully hosted a brand expo both at home and overseas in Thailand, showcasing Korean brands to support them in the process of deal negotiation with local buyers. The trade show attracted around 2,000 visitors in Bangkok and 20,000 to the live-streaming platform.

The company also credited the roll-out of its virtual show host, Lucy, as a contributing factor in elevating customer experience. The Lotte subsidiary said it plans to upgrade its metaverse shopping space by honing Lucy’s vocal expressions and advancing real-time communications technology.

Proactive communication with customers has further garnered NCSI’s attention. Lotte Homeshopping has actively addressed customer complaints by sharing client feedback with its employees via the company intranet, as well as with viewers of the channel through a TV broadcast ombudsman program.

Lee Wan-shin, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, even made a special appearance on the company‘s YouTube channel, interactively engaging with company employees and even sharing jokes during the live broadcast.
Sustainability is another key component to Lotte Homeshopping’s service to the public interest. The company launched an ESG Committee to push forward with its commitment to incorporate sustainability into business management in the economic, environmental and social sectors.