Customer experience in the digital age

Customer behaviour has been overwhelming and drastic with the ongoing digital disruption. Purchases are happening more digitally than in-person, spendings are slow and down across most industries and security has been the top priority for companies and consumers alike. So far, executives who were busy designing strong omnichannel strategies now have to revisit and bring major alterations in their usual typescript for recovery and resurgence.

As the companies gear up for the ‘new reality,’ they need to understand the nuances customers are looking for. Customers seek real-time digital assistance and secured services. Companies investing in the right capabilities and defining their customer experience according to the business goals is what will make them sticky in the long haul.

Shifting Behaviour, Evolving Technology

Consumers are scaling down their spending across all categories in anticipation of difficult times ahead. According to Deloitte Insights, consumer spending on services dropped by 13.3% in Q2 of 2020, as consumers cut down their spending on non-essential items. With more and more people working from home, the streaming boom led to a significant spike in bandwidth and data connectivity demand.
According to Mckinsey, a recent review of web analytics saw a fourfold increase in “Data Plan Upgrade” searches on Google. Nearly all organizations, from large enterprises to local businesses, are reorienting their business models and curating useful digital offerings. For instance, there has been a considerable spike in online webinars and virtual seminars. Businesses are integrating high-end audio and web conferencing and webcasting services , to enable smoother delivery of events and onstage activities online. With the massive online penetration, robust cybersecurity is needed as more confidential data sharing and transactions are now happening online. Along with the physical safety that demands contactless services, both businesses and consumers need protection from cybercrimes such as identity thefts and malware. Companies that are taking into consideration all such parameters while developing the strategy and making necessary adjustments clearly demonstrates an understanding of customer expectations and their willingness to adapt.

Key Trends to Stay Relevant

The evolved consumer behaviour is here to stay. To thrive in the new normal, enterprises have to build their strategies taking the shifting patterns into account. Following are the key trends that industries should consider while recreating experiences more relevant to consumers:

• Roadmap for Digital Recovery:

  The digital excellence bar was always high and has gone through the roof due to the pandemic. Digital platforms will be key in facilitating businesses to meet the changing customer expectations and technological evolution. This is easier on the pockets too, for all the stakeholders.
  Everything is touched by the digital wave, from the delivery of essential items and food to tax filing and opening bank accounts. Companies should rely on agile solutions, design thinking, and iterative approaches to create possibilities beyond their comfort zones to succeed and thrive.

• Develop Secure and Contactless Customer Journey:

  Show them that you care – is the mantra to live by! Touch-free experiences and operations are preferred by customers across businesses as health becomes the primary concern.
  Businesses that are operating digitally cannot ignore the need for extra security. Protect them from unauthorized access, data breaches and other cyber threats through the implementation of an end-to-end security framework. Enable confidence with the help of robust cybersecurity and online data protection.

• Collaborate for Seamless Connected Operations:

  As home is the new office now, businesses have to make sure that their employees have all the right collaboration tools in place to carry on with work activities. Any gaps or loopholes might create a delay in the customer service delivery.
  Collaboration solutions are a priority for businesses - to stay connected with key resources and offer real-time support across boundaries. An effective framework will put things in order to ensure efficiency in workflows.

• Address the Obstacles to a Seamless Customer Experience:

  While there are considerable developments happening on the digital front, there are equally a number of loopholes that companies are failing to address while adopting the latest digitally tuned solutions. For instance, a smoother switch to cloud-based framework would mean an extensively trained workforce who are aware of the integration and capabilities. Failing to disseminate the understanding top-down and otherwise may lead to a shaky digital infrastructure incurring a perpetual cost.

• Bring in Datapoints to Uncover the Best Strategy:

  Listening to customers and building a strategic vision could be challenging, as there is a greater need to choose a plan that best fits the market situation in that moment. It has been proved time and again that companies that marry CX journey with their digital capabilities and behavioural data can deliver more tailored solutions; which the customers seek now.

Customer experience can’t be put in a framework as it is evolving every week. The ‘new reality’ is anything but static. Businesses have to be on their toes to monitor trends regularly, evaluate their strategies accordingly and identify new opportunities that are fast accelerators with a potential to stick for as long as it is needed. Consistent monitoring of customer concerns, well-connected remote working system, implementation of strong security solutions and identifying critical datapoints to map out core interactions are the keys to deliver exceptional customer experience regardless of the shifting expectations.