Glossary
CSAT
Customer Satisfaction Score measures how satisfied customers are with a specific transaction or interaction.
By Amit Tyagi, Fitoor Capital · AletheiaAI Glossary
Definition
CSAT, or Customer Satisfaction Score, is a metric that quantifies customer satisfaction on a scale, typically 1–5 or 1–10. It answers a single question: "How satisfied are you with [this product/service/interaction]?" The score is calculated as the percentage of satisfied responses (usually ratings 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale).
CSAT differs fundamentally from NPS (Net Promoter Score). While CSAT measures satisfaction with a specific touchpoint or transaction, NPS measures willingness to recommend and long-term loyalty. CSAT is transactional; NPS is relational. A customer can score your support team 5/5 (high CSAT) but still have low NPS if the product itself disappoints.
For retention, NPS is the stronger predictor. Studies across SaaS companies show NPS correlates more tightly with churn and repeat purchase. However, CSAT is not irrelevant—it identifies friction points. An e-commerce company with high NPS but low CSAT on checkout experience will leak customers at conversion. Best practice: track both. Use CSAT to fix immediate pain; use NPS to measure long-term loyalty.
India Context
Indian startups often conflate CSAT with Net Promoter Score, leading to misaligned feedback loops. RBI regulations on digital lending and fintech require documented customer satisfaction tracking, but don't mandate CSAT specifically. However, many lending platforms use CSAT to comply with grievance redressal frameworks under the Ombudsman scheme.
Indian B2C startups (Flipkart, Ola, Zomato) track CSAT on individual transactions—delivery experience, app usability, support response time. The benchmark varies: fintech apps target 70%+ CSAT; logistics startups operate at 65–75%. High CSAT alone hasn't prevented churn in hypercompetitive Indian markets; NPS combined with repeat purchase rate is more predictive. Startups bootstrapped or early-stage often skip CSAT surveys due to cost, but cloud tools (Typeform, SurveySparrow) have lowered barriers.
Example
PharmEasy (B2C health e-commerce) tracks CSAT on delivery experience ("Was your medicine delivered on time and in good condition?"). They maintain 78% CSAT but had high churn because customers weren't repeat-purchasing—a sign that NPS (loyalty) and CSAT (transaction satisfaction) moved independently. The lesson: high CSAT on delivery didn't translate to retention because customers' willingness to recommend the platform was lower.
Slice (fintech) uses CSAT post-transaction—every credit card approval, every dispute resolution. Their CSAT sits around 72%, but they focus more on NPS (currently ~35) to predict long-term card usage and wallet stickiness.
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