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New York--Retailers of consumer goods rank middle of the pack when it comes to customer service, according to a recent survey by Accenture.

Accenture’s Global Consumer Research Study, which polled consumer satisfaction among 10,000 people in 27 countries in 10 industries, showed that 32 percent of those surveyed said they were “very much” satisfied with retailers, a percentage on par with the study’s global average.

Five industries ranked above retailers in terms of customer satisfaction: retail banking/financial service providers (37 percent), Internet service providers and travel and tourism (35 percent), wireless phone service providers (34 percent) and consumer electronics manufacturers (33 percent).

Cable/satellite service providers tied with retailers with a 32 percent satisfaction rate, while the industries with lower rates were landline phone service providers (31 percent), life insurance providers (27 percent), and gas and electric utility providers (25 percent).

Retailers also fail to inspire extreme amounts of loyalty among consumers, according to the survey. Only 21 percent said they feel very loyal to retailers, while 20 percent said they feel no loyalty at all.

The global average was 23 percent, with the retail banking (31 percent), wireless phone (26 percent) and Internet service industries (25 percent) ranking the highest.

Despite consumers’ lukewarm feelings about their customer service and a lack of loyalty, retailers ranked highly in terms of word-of-mouth marketing. A total of 33 percent of respondents said they would recommend their retailers to others, and only 9 percent said they would never recommend them. That tops the study’s global average of 29 percent and is bested by only one industry, travel and tourism at 36 percent.

Retailers also received the most favorable ranking when it comes to the adoption and effectiveness of customer loyalty programs. Participation in retailer loyalty programs increased to 53 percent in 2011, up from 52 percent in 2010 and 45 percent in 2009. The second highest-ranking industry was wireless companies, with a 34 percent participation rate. These loyalty programs persuaded 57 percent of survey-takers to stay with a particular retailer in 2011, up from 54 percent last year and 49 percent in 2010.

In addition to providing data on customer service, the Accenture study identified a number of “blind spots”-- areas in which companies may be missing opportunities to connect with customers.

One of the blind spots was companies failing to offer consumers multiple opportunities to engage with them, including through digital channels. A total of 57 percent of survey-takers reported they were frustrated because they couldn’t access company information or purchase products through the channel of their choice. More than a quarter (27 percent) of consumers said they want companies to interact with them via social media before they even become customers, and 24 percent said they were more likely to do business with a company that is active in social media.

The second blind spot cited in the study was partial switching, which is defined as still doing business with a certain provider or store but adding services from another provider or store. For jewelers, this could include customers who still shop in their store but have begun buying some items, such as watches or loose diamonds, from online retailers.

According to Accenture, the trend of partial switching increased in all 10 industries included in the survey in 2011. For the consumer goods retailers category, partial switching climbed 2 percent year-over-year while complete switching was up only 1 percent.

The third blind spot is that companies are failing to keep their promises when it comes to the customer service experience. The study found that consumers rate “having the service experience match the promise” as one of the critical components of good customer service, yet survey-takers cited failure to fulfill this promise as their greatest frustration.