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)

How consumer-generated content adjusts behaviours

The study found that 54% of the surveyed consumers aged 25-34, and nearly half of consumers in the 35-44 and 45-54 age brackets, said that online consumer-generated content (CGC) has an influence on their in-store purchases. And, even among consumers aged 55-64, 40% acknowledged that CGC plays a factor in their decision-making process.

The index examined how consumers' online and offline shopping behaviour is influenced by CGC such as ratings and reviews, questions and answers, photos, videos, and social posts, and was based on an analysis of sample data from the Bazaarvoice network, including more than 57 million reviews and 35 billion product page views as well as supplemental data obtained via a survey conducted using Google Consumer Surveys.

CGC was found to play an equally significant role in purchases of high- and low-consideration purchases. For relatively low-price purchases (such as those common in the food and beverage industry), those who use CGC buy 73% more often than those who do not. Similarly, high-value purchases (such as those among automotive brands) have seen as much as 86% - 97% lifts in offline sales conversion among consumers who used CGC.

Service-oriented industries are also increasingly influenced by CGC that accurately conveys customer experiences. When customer service is an essential component of a business, CGC is more likely to address interactions between customers and employees. For example, financial service organisations (such as insurance companies, banks, and credit unions) experienced one of the highest proportions of CGC that mentioned customer service at 14%, 9%, and 7% respectively.

The report suggests a sharp rise in the usage of and impact of consumer generated content in sectors such as food and beverage and automotive, as well as an increase in content generated via the mobile channel.

The Conversation Index was created to provide new insights into how online consumer conversations can help predict shopping behaviour, and provide ideas about how businesses can maximise sales and deliver better consumer experiences, covering topics such as:

• Seasonal spikes in consumer generated content: when and what are consumers buying?
• Influence of consumer generated content, by region, by income, by age;
• Retail sectors seeing the greatest volumes of consumer generated content;
• Which are the most used channels and devices for creating consumer generated content?
• Marketing tool success rates, supported by consumer generated content.

"The information that guides purchase decisions is no longer contained in a single channel, yet brands still struggle to link the online and offline experiences for their consumers," concluded Sara Spivey, chief marketing officer for Bazaarvoice. "CGC provides the bridge between the in-store and online experiences and the means to pivot from a shopping environment based on company branding to one informed by consumer experience."

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)