Exemplary Customer experience is no
longer a "nice-to-have" in many industries; it has become necessary.
Brands ahead in the competition use standout experiences to attract and retain
customers while reducing servicing costs and queries/complaints. The execution
is complex & requires a complete reinvention of customer journeys and the
supporting processes.
Technological developments
dramatically impact how consumers search for information, evaluate products, make
purchases, and share their experiences. Most of these changes are due to
technological investments in new marketing opportunities. To further step up
the game, there is a projection to spend $50 billion on marketing technologies
globally by 2023 (Forrester, 2019).
Regarding delivery channels, Digital
and physical experiences have merged & are co-existing. Some physical
experiences are better online, and consumers want to keep them that way. It's
the customer journey that dictates your strategy in general.
The new-age customer wants to feel
"always connected", & to keep up, a business must deliver an
unmatched customer experience by embracing technology. Many organizations today
have kept a customer-first strategy as their focal point.
As per research, thirty-five percent
of business executives claim that digital transformation helps them to meet
customer expectations better and enhance operational efficiency (40%), and 38%
of executives plan to invest more in technology to make it their competitive
advantage.
Mobile CX technology is becoming more
valuable than catboats for companies. Consumers enjoy the convenience of
meeting their CX requirements while on the move. Companies must not only have a
mobile CX but also be able seamlessly to connect CX between different mediums,
such as voice, video, or text. According to HBR, 73% of customers use multiple
channels during their purchase journey, making an omnichannel CX a necessity for most businesses.
Digital Journeys are Relieving Customer Efforts
Customers effortlessly jump from one
digital channel to the next as part of their overall customer experience. They
no longer differentiate online and offline and expect similar experiences
across different servicing channels.
Undoubtedly, brands with the
strongest omnichannel customer engagement strategies can retain their customers
more efficiently than companies with weak strategies. A digital customer
experience strategy must include multiple channels that all work towards the
same goal: customer satisfaction, regardless of the journey.
Digital support is becoming more
popular with consumers. Using the web or mobile self-service support to assist
them outranks speaking with an agent by phone.
29% of consumers would like to see
significant improvements in the online resources provided by businesses, while
27% desire a major improvement in the purchasing process.
The global net spending on digital
transformation in 2018 was $1 trillion. This figure will rise to $2 trillion by
2022.
Evolution of Digital Journey
Earlier, most companies relied
heavily on the superior quality of their products and services and the
competence of their sales executives to pull off deals to generate high
revenues. The focus has now shifted towards perfecting their 'experience
optimization skills.' The journey has been gradual, from promoting their
products in the market to considering their end-users actual needs and demands.
Although the companies shifted their base from the retail market to the world
wide web, their basic strategy remained the same.
Digitalization ruling and attracting
62.5 percent of the world's total population and daily rising competition
helped businesses understand that customer-centricity was what they must bring
to the online market.
There are several reasons why digital
customer experience has been gaining more attention-
- An increasing number of "digital customers" use digital
channels, touchpoints, and tools/devices to communicate their
requirements.
- Customers have high expectations and are influenced by the digital
and real-time experiences they enjoy across different industries.
- Customer behavior is becoming more complex, with many channels
being used simultaneously.
PwC research shows that 73% of
customers firmly believe that the customer experience is important in driving
their purchasing decision. 85% of customers agree that CX matters and are
willing to pay more. Gartner Inc. estimates that two-thirds of companies
compete based on their customer experience. Every business wants to stand out
from its competitors by improving its CX.
There has been an increase in digital
customer service interactions over the last few years. This number is expected
to grow continuously. The global CX technology spend is expected to exceed the
$641 million mark by 2022. The shift to digital CX is not just driven by
companies wanting to improve customer experiences but also by how businesses
are being conducted as the world moves into the digital age. The pandemic
increased the popularity of online shopping because of the convenience and
positive experiences. Numerous studies also show that most people will continue
to use digital platforms. According to a survey by Telus International, 71% of
online shoppers will continue to shop online. It's rising not just online
shopping; 77% of respondents said they would continue using digital telehealth
services, and 92% said they would use digital banking.
Role of WhatsApp in Proliferation
WhatsApp had 1 bn users in 2016, 1.5
in 2018, and 2 billion by 2020. The growth is rapid. MobileSquared predicts
that global WhatsApp users will surpass 3.1 billion by 2024.
According to the most recent WhatsApp
statistics, over 5 million businesses connect with customers via WhatsApp.
These numbers are only from 2019, a year after the launch of WhatsApp. This has
undoubtedly increased in number. It is believed that it aids in growing their
business by 80% of users.
Mobilesquared also predicts strong
growth for WhatsApp Business API over the next few years. Per them, there will
be a 5,400% increase in the number and size of businesses using WhatsApp
Business APIs by 2024. There will be almost 55,000 medium-sized and large
businesses using WhatsApp Business APIs. The total spend on WhatsApp Business
APIs is $3.6 billion.
EZ Texting claims that 90% of text
marketing messages are read in three minutes or less, compared to 20% for
emails.
Vernacular Language Breaking Barrier
It is no secret that customers are
more likely to buy from brands wherein they can access the website and product
information in their native language. Common-Sense Advisory research shows that
74% of consumers are more likely than others to buy again from the same brand
if they have access to after-sales support in their native language.
English is widely spoken all over the
globe. But as it appears, nearly 90% of consumers won't consider buying from an
English website if they don't speak and can't read English.
How can you tap into this pool of
international markets and attract an international audience to your products
and services? It's not surprising that you need to be able to communicate in
their language.
You'll see why it's worth it -
studies show that 70% of customers give positive feedback to companies that
offer multilingual customer service and language interpretation.
Around 70% of Indian internet users
prefer Indic languages to English. These local-language speakers have opened up
new markets for brands already accommodating them.
Adopting a specific language for a
region can help you reach new audiences with lower CPAs and provide relevant
content that will increase conversions.
For example, one of India's leading
banks allowed users to open a savings account via their app or online. The
brand sought to improve the cost efficiency of opened accounts by increasing
the number of new accounts while maintaining their cost per account opening.
The bank initiated a pre-post experiment discovery campaign and followed
audience targeting (such as custom intent and remarketing) and creative best
practices (like text-free) to cast it is net wider and connect with the growing
Hindi-speaking internet user base images) to deliver quality conversions at a
lower cost. This local-language targeting drove a 22% incremental conversion
rate for the brand while achieving a 13% lower cost per account opened than in
previous campaigns.
Conclusion
Focusing on customer experience and digital transformation can lead to a 20%-30% increase in customer satisfaction and 20-50% more economic gains. Analyzing visitor interactions across a business's ecosystem is a great way to improve customer satisfaction. Businesses must adopt a holistic approach to visitor interactions to create seamless digital experiences for their target audience.
Sources: Forbes, McKinsey,
Springer, Qualtrics, News Articles
