Apple ranks third in customer loyalty among Fortune 100 tech companies

A new study ranks Apple with the third top customer loyalty in tech, despite having the highest number of support and complaint-related searches than any other tech company at 1.2 million average monthly searches.

B2B Marketplace DesignRush created the Customer Loyalty Index, which looks at the biggest U.S. tech companies among the Fortune 100, with Apple placing third behind Alphabet (Google) and Intel. According to the index, Apple has the strongest financial score and social media presence compared to other companies, with the most YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram followers. Alphabet (Google) customers rank as the most loyal in the Fortune 100; Intel places second ahead of Apple and Microsoft.

Loyalty on the Customer Loyalty Index is evaluated through six equally weighted pillars: company finances, average rating and volume of reviews, Net Promoter Score (NPS) of reviews, social media following and engagement, the number of customer service-related Google searches, and YouGov popularity. 

Taking a list of the 100 largest U.S. companies by revenue, according to Fortune, each company was ranked according to 20 data points related to six Customer Loyalty Index pillars, using an index score from 0-100. 

Apple ranks third, just behind Intel, after scoring 61.8. The tech giant has the best financial and social media score, the second-best average review rating, and the fourth-best customer NPS. Apple has the highest social media engagement of 0.3% and the most YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram followers. Its YouGov popularity rating ranks fifth. Surprisingly, Apple scored lowest for customer service, with over 1.2 million monthly searches for customer service and support. 

Alphabet, or Google, leads with a score of 71.9 out of 100. Google excelled in five metrics, with its customers ranking most loyal in the Fortune 100. The highest scores came from reviews, NPS, social media, and YouGov ratings, and the lowest was from customer service.