Some 53% of consumers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK are open to switching mobile providers, according to new analysis from Circles.
According to Circles’ report, Consumer Insights: Customer Stickiness & Loyalty in European Telecommunications, the switching intentions vary significantly according to country, age, customer value and exposure to low-cost competition, indicating a ‘fragmented loyalty landscape’ across Europe.
Country by country
Germany, for example, boasts a particularly pronounced generational divide, with 64% of adults under 35 open to switching, while 75% of consumers aged over 55 intend to remain with their existing provider.
In Italy, the proportion of consumers intending to switch mobile provider within two years increased from 18% in 2023 to 27% in 2024. This was the largest year-on-year increase among the five markets covered in the report, Circles noted.
In the UK, meanwhile, 31% of respondents said they were likely to change mobile operator within two years in 2024, six percentage points higher than in 2023.
Elsewhere, Circles‘ report found that Spain has a highly converged fixed-mobile market, but low-cost operators continue to attract consumers considering a switch. Approximately 55% of the intended destinations among Spanish switchers were low-cost operators, the report found.
Key differentiators
“What this research makes clear is that European telcos are not facing just one loyalty problem, but a different one in every market,” commented Rameez Ansar, co-founder and CEO at Circles. “While price and network quality remain the price of entry, they no longer explain who stays and who leaves.
“The real differentiator is whether an operator understands what a specific customer values and can act on it. After all, bundles, rewards and personalised offers only build loyalty if it’s relevant to that customer, not just available to them. At Circles, we have partnered operators globally to move from generic retention programs to ones that are tested against real customer value. The operators who get this right will not just reduce churn; they will set the standard for what loyalty means in an increasingly converged, commoditised market.” Read more here.
