A report from Vision Critical which questioned 1021 adults on their customer journey in April 2015 found that while 72% of Americans contacted customer support at least once in the year prior to the report, for millennials it was an average of 5.24 times, for 35- to 54-year-olds 3.64 times and the over 55s 3.02 times.

Among its other findings were that 42% of people in the US will stop using a brand after two bad service experiences and 30% after three bad experiences.

But what consumers consider the most important services depends on age. For the 55+ age group 36% cited in-store assistance and 25% call centre customer service. But for millennials, 31% said personalised promotions, 22% payment alternatives and 30% transaction history.