Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Customer loyalty drivers shift to safety and personalization

65% Of consumers say safety is now a key loyalty driver

In response, the study suggests, the majority of brands are rethinking their goals to provide superior customer experiences and accelerating their technology development and deployment plans to meet the needs of the evolving consumer.

Loyalty drivers have changed
In 2019, the top drivers of customer loyalty reported by consumers were low cost, quality products and same-day delivery. 2020 has heralded in a whole new set of concerns for consumers, and this is reflected in new loyalty drivers.

Consumers now want safe, fast and human experiences. The top loyalty drivers now are:

1. Personal safety - ensuring social/physical distancing in a facility
   65%.
2. Scheduling needs - delivery within a few days
   57%.
3. Relevant suggestions - special recommendations that meet a consumer's current needs
   56%.
4. Human touch - having a live person, rather than a bot, available to talk
   54%.

The good news is the research found that brands are on board with these changes, with 83% rethinking what it means to deliver superior customer experiences moving forward.

Pandemic accelerates immersive tech acceptance
In the original research, consumers expressed acceptance of augmented realityand virtual reality becoming part of the consumer process over the next decade, but that has been greatly accelerated in 2020. For example:

• Drones - last year 23% of consumers expected delivery by drone or autonomous vehicle in the coming year; now 60% expect it by 2022.
• Smart assistants - last year 65% of consumers expected to use them by 2025, but now 70% plan to use them by 2022
• Chatbots - last year 36% of consumers expected to use chatbots to have questions answered or receive customer support about a brand, products or services. Now 54% want a live person, and not a bot, available to talk to them.
• AR and VR - 69% of consumers surveyed expect to use AR and VR to sample products in 2021. 63% of consumers are willing to use AR and VR to visit remote locations, up from 56% in the previous survey.
• Telemedicine - 67% of consumers are open to telemedicine.

In response, one-third of brands surveyed are speeding up investments in technology over the next two years. The top immersive tech areas that brands are prioritizing are:

• Voice-based AI assistants for sales and marketing.
• Holographics for customer support or instruction.
• Voice-based AI assistants embedded in products or services.
• AR and VR for customer instruction and support.

"The Experience 2030 global study, released in late 2019, clearly indicated that brands are planning to invest heavily in immersive CX technologies and AI-fueled automation over the next decade," said Wilson Raj, Global Director of Customer Intelligence at SAS. "This Pulse report stresses that organizations have not changed these priorities, but urgently stepped up these investments to respond to the pandemic and ensuing disruptions. Brands have chopped timeframes in many of the areas identified in Experience 2030."

The disruption is real
Six out of 10 brands report that they're unable to deliver their regular products to their customers. 28% of brands have been unable to adjust and adapt and are riding things out until "normal" returns

Overcoming these challenges, and meeting increasingly tech-infused consumer expectations, requires an agile mindset, the right technology solutions. Brands have had to accelerate tech development and deployment in many more areas than immersive tech as consumers seek greater digitization to ensure safety and convenience.

Brands have accelerated development and deployment in the following areas:

• 66% - online consumers tracking systems for behavior and habits.
• 64% - mobile apps for customer engagement.
• 68% - shared customer records for cross-departmental use.
• 64% - real-time product or inventory awareness systems.

In addition, more than half of all brands surveyed reported they have accelerated plans and initiatives involving alternative payment apps, offline consumer intelligence (behavioral tracking), AI and predictive analytics, automated subscription or delivery plans for consumers, chatbots, 5G, encrypted communications and/or distributed ledgers (blockchains).

Top industries trusted by consumers
As customers change the way they want to engage, the factors driving both loyalty and trust also change. In a "socially distant" market, hybrid digital/physical experiences have become increasingly common as both brands and consumers look to technologies that provide convenience and safety - from the increased use of telemedicine to contactless payments and online ordering combined with curbside pickup. Brands that want to deliver truly personalized experiences must pivot to include these forms of engagement in the customer experiences they provide.

The top two industries that consumers rate as delivering both digital and physical safety are health care followed closely by grocery and food.

"Because of COVID-19, all brands are now in the health and wellness business," said Wilson Raj, Global Director of Customer Intelligence at SAS. "Other industries now follow grocery chains and quick-serve restaurants that were quick to adopt health precautions - amidst digital defaults such as contactless payments. Moving forward, brand trust for all industries must involve both physical and digital well-being of their customers, through health safety protocols and data privacy measures respectively."

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)