Email Still Preferred for Communications with Businesses

No question: when it comes to interacting with a business or friends, email rules. An Ipsos survey recently found that 67 percent of consumers prefer email as a primary method of communications in their personal and business capacities, and 65 percent say they will continue to prefer email in the future.

Consumer opinion of the future importance of email registered far above future expectations for video conferencing (19 percent), instant messaging (17 percent), SMS text messages (12 percent) and Web meetings (12 percent).

Significantly, 65 percent of the demographic between the ages of 18 to 34 expect to favor email to communicate with businesses in five years. That makes sense: a retailer is not likely to be found on a "buddy" list. Nor are most major retailers likely to rush to publish such customer service "buddy" lists so consumers can contact them that way.