What does good customer service look like around the world?

It’s 8.14am on a Tuesday morning, and four customers in four countries are trying to solve four very different problems:

• Maya is in London. Her trainers are a day late, so she opens the retailer’s app and asks its AI assistant where her order is.
  
  
• Kenji is in Tokyo. His new camera has arrived, but the battery won’t charge. He is trying to work out whether to fill in a support form, send an email or find a phone number.
  
  
• Priya is in Mumbai. She has spotted a charge on her bank account that she doesn’t recognise. She wants to know what it is, whether she needs to do anything and how quickly she can get an answer.
  
  
• Lucas is in São Paulo, waiting for a parcel from overseas. The tracking has not changed for four days. He’s beginning to wonder whether the problem lies with the retailer, the courier or customs.
  
  

All four are trying to resolve something, but the uncertainty they face is different. Those differences matter, because the way customers look for help, the information they expect to find and the amount of reassurance they need all vary between markets.

Customer service starts before the sale

The boundary between marketing, commerce and customer service is becoming harder to draw. DHL’s 2026 E-Commerce Trends Report, based on 29,000 shoppers and 5,800 e-commerce businesses across 29 countries, found that 70% of shoppers now buy internationally, up from 60% in 2025. It also found that 67% have abandoned an online purchase because the delivery offering did not meet their expectations.

That puts information about the practicalities of buying much closer to the centre of the customer experience. Delivery times, returns, customs charges, payment methods and support options can all affect whether someone feels confident enough to proceed, particularly when they are comparing retailers across borders.

Maya: When the answer is the service

Maya’s trainers are late and she wants to know where they are. She probably doesn’t care whether the answer comes from a person, a chatbot or an AI assistant. What matters is whether she can get a useful answer without having to work out how the retailer has organised its support operation.

Search is increasingly part of this customer service journey. DHL reports that 38% of shoppers are already using AI-powered chat or virtual assistants to buy and sell, while Salesforce reported a 200% year-on-year increase in agentic search in 2026.

As these tools become part of the buying and service journey, the quality of the information behind them matters. An AI assistant can only give a useful answer if the underlying information about orders, products, delivery and returns is accurate, current and accessible.

For the retailer, it means making sure that information can be found, understood and acted on, whether the customer arrives through organic search, paid search, the company website or an AI assistant.

Kenji: Finding the right help in the right market

Kenji’s problem is more complicated. He doesn’t simply need an answer; he needs to work out how to get the right answer, and whether the route to it will be obvious. Should he fill in a form? Email? Call? Speak to someone who understands the camera? And will he find the same route to support in Tokyo as a customer would in London?

The search query is often a clue to the job the customer is trying to complete. For an international brand, understanding that job in each market matters more than simply translating the words used to describe it.

Someone searching for a returns policy may want to know whether they can send something back, how much it will cost, how long it will take or whether local collection is available. The words they use can reveal only part of the problem they are trying to solve.

That’s why international search can’t be reduced to translating an English keyword list. Customers may have different expectations around delivery, payment, returns and support. Understanding those differences can influence everything from organic content and keyword strategy to paid search messaging.

Priya: When reassurance becomes part of the service

Priya has a different kind of uncertainty. A delayed parcel is frustrating, but an unfamiliar bank charge can make someone question whether their money or account is secure.

Deloitte found that 91% of banking customers surveyed were at least moderately interested in proactive support, while 71% agreed that companies should anticipate and solve problems before customers contact them. Only 37% said they had actually received proactive support.

For Priya, the first useful interaction with the bank may therefore be an answer she can find for herself. She may search for an explanation of the charge, what she needs to do next or whether other customers have experienced the same thing.

That has implications for the way financial services brands organise information online. Explanations, FAQs, support content and search results all form part of the experience, particularly when a customer is looking for an answer at a moment when confidence in the brand may be under pressure.

Lucas: When cross-border buying creates its own questions

Lucas’s stalled parcel illustrates another source of uncertainty. International commerce can involve several organisations, systems and sets of rules, and the customer doesn’t necessarily know where responsibility sits when something goes wrong.

DHL found that 63% of shoppers have abandoned a purchase because of unexpected customs or tax charges, while 62% have done so because their preferred payment method was unavailable.

Lucas may search for delivery times, customs charges, taxes, returns or payment options before he buys. If the retailer does not answer clearly, another retailer may.

The same information becomes important after purchase, when a delayed parcel leaves the customer trying to establish who is responsible. The retailer may point to the courier, the courier may point to customs, and the customer is left trying to join the dots.

This is where the distinction between acquisition and customer service becomes less useful. Information that helps someone decide whether to buy can also determine how much uncertainty they face afterwards.

. . .

Four customers, one international search challenge

DHL’s research shows how much customer needs can vary between markets. Eighty per cent of UK shoppers prefer home delivery, compared with 41% in China. In Poland, 68% prefer parcel lockers, while 47% of Danish shoppers prefer parcel shops or convenience stores. Returns vary just as widely, with 75% of Indian shoppers preferring home collection compared with 23% in Germany and 8% in Poland.

There is no single international version of convenience. Customers may be solving the same broad problem in very different ways, depending on where they live, what they are buying and what they need to know.

For international brands, that means understanding the question behind the search, not simply translating the words used to ask it. As AI becomes part of how people research, buy and resolve problems, the quality of the information behind those answers matters even more. To find out more, get in touch.