Customer experience is a key competitive differentiator for businesses across industries––from retail to banking. Every part of the business has an important role to play in delivering unique customer experiences; which is why the “business” and “IT” must now, more than ever, collaborate to create customer experiences that differentiate their brand from their competition.
Today, customer experience is now top of mind for many business leaders. This year, we conducted an independent study to provide insights into how organizations are doing when it comes to providing a personalized, connected experience. The study surveyed over 8,000 respondents across multiple countries––including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore.
Here are the top 3 insights from that study:
1. Delivering disconnected experiences can damage customer loyalty
Many customers believe that organizations provide disconnected customer experiences. What does this look like in practice? Imagine you shop at an eCommerce store, then fill out your contact and payment information on their website. The next time you shop at the store through the mobile app, however, you have to fill out the information again. This is what a disconnected customer experience looks like.
The findings from the report show that 81% of customers believe organizations provide a disconnected experience. When we look at the sector breakdown, we see that government organizations (66%) provide the most disconnected experience, followed by insurers (58%), retailers (56%), and banks (55%). Overall, disconnected customer experiences can damage customer loyalty; in fact, more than two-thirds (69%) of consumers stated that a disconnected experience would make them consider changing service provider
2. Sharing information is too difficult for most customers
One can argue that sharing information today is easier than ever. However, customers still find that sharing information with organizations is difficult. A customer might try to open a bank account, for example, and stop the process mid-way through because they are unclear on what information is required and how long the application will take.
Approximately 48% of respondents mentioned that they have given up on an activity or request, as sharing the information was too difficult. In terms of the industry insights, customers found that it is most difficult to share information with banks (32%) and government entities (32%), followed by insurers (30%), and retailers (27%).
3. Offering more personalized experiences is necessary
We live in the era of big data. Customers provide organizations with vast amounts of data that can be used to deliver a more personalized customer experience––from location data that enables organizations to provide more geo-based offers to shopping history data that allows organizations to deliver a more personalized experience. Still, many customers feel that there is room for improvement when it comes to receiving a better, more tailored customer experience. In fact, nearly a third (32%) of consumers said that they would spend more with a retailer, that provided a personalized experience than with one that didn’t.
The Consumer Connectivity Insights report found that banks (72%) provide the most personalized customer experience, followed by insurers (65%), retailers (50%), and government entities (45%). The great news is that delivering a personalized experience is possible with the right data; the research reveals that 42% of consumers would be happy to share their transaction data with other providers and trusted third-parties if it meant they received a more personalized service.
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The reality is that today’s customers are increasingly expecting a connected customer experience, and many organizations are aware of this demand. In fact, another study, the Connectivity Benchmark Report 2018, which surveyed over 650 IT decision makers, found that improving the customer experience was a priority for the majority (71%) of respondents.
Interested in learning more insights about the customer experience? Check out the full Consumer Connectivity Insights 2018 report.
