85% Of Jio Customers Will Retain Services After Free Offer Ends ; Airtel Has Most Loyal Users With 97.7% Retention Rate!
Although customers thronged to the Jio camp, and they broke world records in customer acquisition, their biggest worry is retention: Exactly how many customers would be using their services even after the offer period of free calling and Internet ends as on March 31, 2017?
Jio Services Would Be Retained.. But As A Secondary SIM
A recent survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch has got some good news for Jio management, as they have found that 85% of Jio users will retain their services, even after the March 31st.
However, there is a bit of concern here as well: Most of the customers (67%) will use Jio as the secondary operator. This clearly means that majority of the Jio users are willing to use it post-free period, but are still uncertain on making it as the default telecom carrier.
Maybe they are still testing waters before finalizing it.
Meanwhile, out of 85% who are willing to use Jio after the free offer ends, 57% will opt for a package between Rs 400 and 500 and will not go for the cheapest package. This is another good news for Jio, because their users are not merely freeloaders, but willing to pay more than Rs 400 every month for the services.
Biggest Barrier For Using Jio?
The survey found that handset incompatibility was the biggest barrier for using Jio, as 40% of the non-Jio users stated this fact. Meanwhile, 31% of the respondents stated that long queues infront of stores to get a SIM was the major obstacle.
Around 24% of the respondents said that they have never tried Jio and 27% said that they are satisfied with their current operator.
Bharti Airtel Customers Most Loyal
Despite the tsunami unleashed by Mukesh Ambani via Jio, Airtel customers are not moved. The survey found that Airtel has the most satisfied customers, as 97.7% are fully satisfied with their services. Only 17% of Airtel customers were interested in Jio, even with the free offer!
Smaller telecom operators such as Reliance Communication, Aircel etc managed an average of 89% customer satisfaction. Massive 41% of customers from the bunch of smaller telcos are interested in Jio services in the coming days.
Now, this fact means two possibilities: a) Those who are unsatisfied with the smaller telecom operators may soon shift to either Jio or Airtel and b) There can be a massive consolidation in this space, as smaller telcos may combine forces with their larger rivals for surviving. (as we can see in the case of RCom and Aircel recently)
The survey was conducted in association with Survey Monkey, and here is the demographic breakdown:
- 47%: Female
- 53%: Male
- 38%: In the age group of 18-29 years
- 40%: In the age group of 30-44 years
- 14%: In the age group of 45-59 years
- 7%: In the age group of 60+ years
