Companies today agree that customer experience plays an important role in building loyalty, but many brands still overlook CX in favor of more tangible, metric-driven initiatives. This mindset may be changing, however, as more research comes out supporting CX as a factor in improving overall revenue. The latest study, out of Frost & Sullivan, goes so far as to predict that customer experience will pass both price and product as a key brand differentiator.
For marketers looking for measurable impact, the study also observes an annual loss of over $300 billion as a result of companies failing to meet customer expectations related to CX.
Part of this CX expectation is the ability to communicate with brands through a channel of the customer’s choosing; shoppers today demand choice in their method of brand interaction. These same consumers also value personalization, choosing to do business with brands that offer them messaging, discounts, and service according to their specific needs, desires, and specifications.
“Organizations that aim to offer a consistent experience across multiple channels capturing interactions across each touch-point and making the conversation with the customer contextual will hold a significant advantage,” noted Vineeth Nayak, Founder and Managing Director at Tetherfi, a communication solutions provider that worked with Frost & Sullivan in the development of the report. “The power of understanding and moving toward an omnichannel customer journey combines everything we know about a customer's past, current and subsequent interactions from all touch-points into actionable information for the enterprise.”
In addition to demanding a wide array of options in their choice of channel, customers want a seamless experience that they’re able to find in some of the top brands in CX, including Apple, Amazon, and Starbucks.
“All businesses should aim to provide a unified omnichannel experience across all channels so that the process is seamless, consistent, and integrated as customers move through them,” said Krishna Baidya, Associate Director, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific, Frost & Sullivan.