Newcomers, online flower retailers clinch top spots in Singapore's best customer service list
SINGAPORE – Luxury hotel Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore has been crowned Singapore's best customer service provider, dethroning Shangri-La, a five-star hotel near Orchard Road, which topped the list in the last two years.
Hotel brands occupied half of the top 10 spots in the 2024/2025 edition of Singapore's Best Customer Service survey, but the 2025 list features a broader mix of industries, including online florists, wedding planners, eyewear retailers and furniture stores.
A Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore spokeswoman said the property's service philosophy is inspired by 'gracious Thai hospitality', where a combination of warmth, attentiveness and respect makes every guest feel truly cared for.
'What sets us apart is our ability to create a personalised, resort-like experience in Singapore, ensuring every interaction feels sincere, intuitive and memorable,' she said.
Beyond receiving standardised technical training, the hotel's staff attend workshops on anticipating unspoken needs, cross-cultural awareness and mindfulness.
Guests receive the Thai 'wai', a traditional greeting where palms are pressed together in a prayer-like manner.
'It is about creating little moments of delight that go beyond the expected, whether that's remembering a returning guest's favourite drink or recommending experiences to suit a family with young children,' the spokeswoman said.
The fourth edition of the survey, conducted by The Straits Times and global data company Statista in March and April, identified Singapore's best customer service retailers and service providers from among 1,800 companies across 102 categories.
More than 10,000 respondents rated brands that provide customer experiences in traditional retail, online and services segments.
The survey results were released on Aug 20.
Flower power
Online flower retailers bloomed in the top 10 spots, with Ask a French – Flowers placing second, Fav Florist clinching sixth place and BloomBack ranking seventh.
Statista analyst Inez Angelixa said that having three online retailers in the top 10 in 2025 marks a significant shift, as the previous three editions featured only bricks-and-mortar establishments.
'This indicates a growing strength and recognition for online retail in delivering high-quality customer experiences,' she said.
Mrs Aude Giraud, owner of Ask a French – Flowers, said she made a conscious decision to operate from her home studio at East Coast and not have a physical store.
'It gives me more freedom. I don't have to pay rent or hire employees,' said the Singapore permanent resident who moved here from Paris in 2015.
Mrs Aude Giraud, owner of Ask a French – Flowers, making a bouquet in her home studio on Aug 15.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Her business fills a niche for European freestyle arrangements rather than providing typical structured bouquets.
She told The Straits Times that she has never repeated a bouquet style in the last 10 years. Each creation is unique.
'My customers can't see what bouquet they will get until it is delivered. That's why it's called a surprise bouquet... If you look at the website, you cannot choose a bouquet. You just choose the size,' she said, adding that customers can also choose between fresh and dried flowers, and if they prefer a vase.
Mrs Giraud said she has never repeated a bouquet style in the last 10 years.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
When asked about her approach to customer service, Mrs Giraud said communication and problem-solving are key, adding that she ensures all queries are answered promptly.
'It's a very soulful business. Sending flowers is very intimate, it's not just decorative. It's a message that people want to send, be it condolences, love or congratulations, so they need to trust the person that's behind it,' she said.
Ms Hazel Kweh, who founded BloomBack – an online retailer for preserved flowers – with her husband in 2017, said service excellence was something she learnt during the five years she worked with Singapore Airlines.
'As SQ cabin crew, I was used to providing that level of service – it was my lifestyle already. So naturally, when I founded this company, I wanted to similarly 'walk the talk',' she said.
BloomBack, started by Ms Hazel Kweh, specialises in preserved flower arrangements.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF HAZEL KWEH
Ms Kweh added that being in this business requires understanding that flower gifting is usually a last-minute affair, and she takes pride in how promptly her company responds to requests.
'We need to make our customers feel understood, we are there for them on important occasions... So we do express and same-day delivery because gifting is always very last minute. We need to understand our customers' pain points and then translate that into words and actions,' she said.
Associate Professor Joicey Wei, from the Singapore University of Social Sciences' School of Business, said online flower retailers have an advantage over hotels due to how customers form and measure their expectations.
'Flowers are usually bought as gifts, not for one's own consumption. Plus, as a once-off transaction, as long as they are delivered to the right person, at the right time, with a touch of personalisation, it is very easy to exceed your previously formed expectations,' she said, adding that flowers carry strong emotional value.
Hotel experiences, however, involve multiple touchpoints from check-in to room service and even dining. Thus, any small lapse can lower the overall experience, Prof Wei added.
'For big-brand hotels, customers already have very high expectations that they will get excellent levels of service. It's very hard to surprise them,' she said, adding that this may explain why newer hotels such as Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore sometimes rank higher than longstanding luxury brands like Shangri-La.
Statista's Ms Angelixa said luxury hotels dropping in the rankings was not due to a decline in their performance, as they maintained a similar likelihood of recommendation as in 2024 .
'However, competitors improved their scores, with other industries placing greater emphasis on customer service,' she said, adding that this heightened competition in the premium segment made it more challenging for luxury hotels to remain among the top 10 brands.
Only two hotels made the cut in 2025 . While newcomer Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore clinched the top spot, returning entrant Marina Bay Sands placed 10th on the list, down from third place in 2024 .
Other new faces in 2025 include eyewear retailer Paris Miki in third place, perfume and cosmetics brand Jo Malone in fourth, wedding planner Rosette Designs and Co in fifth, furniture retailer Nitori in eighth, and moving company Assalaamualaikum Enterprise, which ranked ninth.
Online stores to grow in presence
Ms Felicia Wee, marketing course chair at Temasek Polytechnic, said online retailers are likely to feature more in future rankings as companies invest in user-friendly platforms to improve customer experience.
'It's the convenience of it all, and the speed with which you can purchase something,' she said, adding that these features can sometimes outshine in-store service.
But success also depends on seamless online and offline strategies, such as after-sales services and a willingness to invest in data-driven insights to understand and act on consumer feedback.
Ms Wee said: 'If they are fully online companies, they must take note of customer feedback. That's critical to how they would function as an online business, about how they've been serving their customers online.'
New categories introduced in the ranking in 2025 were language e-learning platforms, maid agencies, as well as wedding planning and entertainment.
According to Statista, five categories saw their average score improve: moving services, eyewear retailers, men's apparel (online), dry cleaning services, and pharmacies and drug stores.
Ms Angelixa said the improvement was mainly due to better accessibility.
'In Singapore, 76 per cent of people own a smartphone, enabling consumers to access product information any time via search engines and other online channels,' she said.
She added that with widespread internet use, strong digital infrastructure and government support, brands are now more accessible round the clock.
While this benefits all categories in the survey, these five saw the most notable improvement, compared with 2024 .
How companies are chosen and ranked
The ranking for Singapore's Best Customer Service 2025/2026 was based on the results of an anonymous online survey commissioned by The Straits Times in partnership with Statista.
The survey covered more than 1,800 retailers and service providers in 102 categories, providing results for a broad spectrum of customer experiences in traditional retail, online and services segments.
More than 10,000 respondents took part in the survey, and evaluations from the 2024/2025 edition were also considered with a smaller weightage, resulting in over 100,0000 evaluations of customer service being analysed.
Those who were polled comprised customers in Singapore who had made purchases, used services or gathered information about products or services in the past three years.
For each category, the most relevant brands were included in the scope of the survey according to reputation, turnover or market share.
Only companies that offer services in Singapore were taken into account.
Calculation of scores
The final ranking was based on how likely customers would recommend a company to others. This made up 50 per cent of the total score.
The other half of the final score was based on five criteria, with respondents giving ratings on a scale of zero (worst) to 10 (best).
The criteria were:
Quality of communication, which considered whether the contact – via e-mail, phone or face to face – was friendly and polite;
Professional competence, which measured the quality of information received and whether questions were answered correctly and in sufficient detail;
Range of services, which considered the variety of solutions available to meet customers' expectations;
Customer focus, which looked at whether the customer felt acknowledged and important; and
Accessibility, which measured the availability of customer service in a shop or on a helpline.
The top three or top five brands – based on category size – receiving the highest scores in each category were awarded the Singapore's Best Customer Service 2025/2026 title.
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