Customer support is getting reshaped by automation and AI fast, and one data point that stands out is that 46% of businesses already report cost savings from customer support automation. At the same time, queues still run long with an average UK call wait of 34 minutes and 15% of companies seeing self service deflection rates above 30%. Let’s connect these gaps with the help desk and customer service trends shaping where budgets, tickets, and customer expectations are going next.
Key Takeaways
- 90% of customer support leaders say delivering customer service faster than competitors is important to their company’s growth strategy (CX/Customer service priorities survey figure).
- 37% of organizations reported using AI for customer service in 2023 (share of firms using AI for customer service activities).
- 33% of adults used digital government services for at least one purpose in 2023 in the EU (percentage using eGovernment).
- US household expenditure on repair and maintenance services was $339.8 billion in 2023 (consumer spending on repair and maintenance).
- $1.4 billion global spend in 2023 on help desk and customer service software solutions (market spend).
- $7.2 billion global market size in 2023 for customer experience (CX) software (market size estimate).
- 67% of UK consumers reported they used online self-service before contacting a call center in 2023 (share using self-service).
- 72% of organizations use ticketing systems to manage customer support requests (ticketing adoption share).
- 5.2 million US adults used online learning platforms for job training in 2021 (number of users).
- 25% average reduction in operating costs after implementing omnichannel customer service automation (cost reduction).
- 10% of total IT spend is allocated to customer service and support technologies (IT budget allocation).
- 6.5% of companies said compliance and security costs increased in 2023 (share experiencing cost increase).
- 63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (willingness-to-pay share).
- 20% of employees spend time searching for information rather than doing work (time-waste for information search).
- 15% of companies said their self-service deflection rate exceeded 30% in 2023 (share by deflection threshold).
Automating and improving customer support is key, with strong cost and service gains alongside rising AI and omnichannel adoption.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
90% of customer support leaders say delivering customer service faster than competitors is important to their company’s growth strategy (CX/Customer service priorities survey figure).
02
37% of organizations reported using AI for customer service in 2023 (share of firms using AI for customer service activities).
03
33% of adults used digital government services for at least one purpose in 2023 in the EU (percentage using eGovernment).
04
1.2% of all internet traffic in 2023 was attributed to bots in a global study (share of traffic for bots).
05
0.5% of automated bot traffic was classified as “bad bots” in 2023 by a threat intelligence report (bad bot share).
06
2.1% of enterprises reported a data breach in 2023 (incident rate for enterprises, used to justify secure help workflows).
07
39% of consumers expect a consistent experience across channels (omnichannel consistency expectation share) in 2024.
08
75% of customers expect a company to understand their needs and expectations in 2024 (expectation share).
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends show that customer experience is accelerating, with 90% of support leaders prioritizing faster service and 39% of consumers expecting a consistent omnichannel experience in 2024, while organizations increasingly rely on AI with 37% using it for customer service in 2023.
02 · Category
Market Size7 stats
01
US household expenditure on repair and maintenance services was $339.8 billion in 2023 (consumer spending on repair and maintenance).
02
$1.4 billion global spend in 2023 on help desk and customer service software solutions (market spend).
03
$7.2 billion global market size in 2023 for customer experience (CX) software (market size estimate).
04
$18.7 billion global market for customer engagement platforms in 2024 (forecasted or estimated market value).
05
$26.9 billion global market size for customer service automation in 2023 (market size estimate).
06
3.5 billion customer service tickets were processed globally in 2023 (ticket volume estimate).
07
14% of the global customer service software market is projected to be AI-enabled customer service applications by 2026 (AI-enabled segment share/forecast).
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In the Market Size view of Help With, spending and usage keep climbing with 2023 global customer service automation at $26.9 billion and 3.5 billion tickets handled worldwide, while AI is set to expand its footprint from 14% of customer service software in 2026 for a clear shift in how help is delivered.
03 · Category
User Adoption4 stats
01
67% of UK consumers reported they used online self-service before contacting a call center in 2023 (share using self-service).
02
72% of organizations use ticketing systems to manage customer support requests (ticketing adoption share).
03
5.2 million US adults used online learning platforms for job training in 2021 (number of users).
04
3.1% of consumer complaint categories were about service problems in 2022 (complaint share by category).
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User Adoption looks strong and increasingly digital, with 67% of UK consumers relying on online self-service before calling a center and 72% of organizations using ticketing systems, while only 3.1% of complaint categories in 2022 were service problems.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis7 stats
01
25% average reduction in operating costs after implementing omnichannel customer service automation (cost reduction).
02
10% of total IT spend is allocated to customer service and support technologies (IT budget allocation).
03
6.5% of companies said compliance and security costs increased in 2023 (share experiencing cost increase).
04
30% of organizations reported that automated ticket routing reduced staffing needs (reported staffing reduction).
05
31% of respondents said their organization offers self-service options (e.g., FAQ, portals, chat) to resolve support issues in 2024 (self-service availability share).
06
58% of organizations reported improving first-contact resolution after implementing AI-assisted workflows in 2023 (FCR improvement share).
07
46% of businesses report cost savings from automation in customer support in 2023 (automation savings share).
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Cost Analysis data shows that customer service automation is delivering measurable savings, with 46% of businesses reporting cost savings in 2023 and an average 25% reduction in operating costs after implementing omnichannel automation.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (willingness-to-pay share).
02
20% of employees spend time searching for information rather than doing work (time-waste for information search).
03
15% of companies said their self-service deflection rate exceeded 30% in 2023 (share by deflection threshold).
04
34 minutes average call waiting time in the UK in 2023 for support calls (waiting time measure).
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across performance metrics for Help With, the numbers show a clear squeeze between demand and execution, with consumers (63%) paying more for better customer experience while support operations still struggle, including 34 minutes of average call waiting in the UK and 20% of employees lost to information search.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Julian Richter. (2026, February 13). Help With Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/help-with-statistics
MLA
Julian Richter. "Help With Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/help-with-statistics.
Chicago
Julian Richter. 2026. "Help With Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/help-with-statistics.
Sources & references
30 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+11 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)