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)

Not all virtual currencies are created equal

Facebook Credits were launched in 2011 in an attempt to standardise the method of payments made to developers of various Facebook apps and games, and to make the purchasing experience easier for customers. But Facebook quickly found out that, given the choice, most people prefer real money. Microsoft, too, appears to be hedging with its Microsoft Points because Windows 8 offers a 'real money' platform. The public's attention hasn't been captured too easily by other virtual currency initiatives either.

But Amazon might be on to a winner. The key to its potential success is the Kindle, or the Amazon Kindle Fire to be precise. Virtual currency, both in the forms of online digital credit and redeemable paper vouchers, have in the past been intended to generate customer loyalty or to gain control of the point-of-sale; But with this launch Amazon is aiming to stimulate loyalty among both purchasers and software developers.

Amazon Coins will be redeemable only against Kindle apps and in-app purchases at the Amazon Appstore. Amazon understands economies of scale better than most retailers and believes that its Coins will stimulate increased activity and sales in the Kindle market which will, in turn, encourage developers to produce more Kindle apps, thus creating a virtuous circle fuelled by this restricted virtual currency. Amazon may also create additional demand from the younger market if parents are able to gift this currency as a weekly allowance, for example.

The real challenge for Amazon - and indeed the one that faces any creator of a virtual currency - is to imbue the currency with value. The mistake that many make is to create something that's clearly of value to the business (a virtual currency is, after all, designed to fulfil your own business objectives) but that fails to address the customer's needs and wants.

Amazon has already invested in creating an extremely attractive ecosystem that customers obviously want to use. So the new virtual currency has value because the Amazon ecosystem has value. It is the equity within the Amazon brand which may enable an immediate transfer of both real and perceived value to Amazon Coins.

It makes sense to create a digital currency to drive demand for digital products, but the value in both needs to be apparent if consumers are going to respond, and if the programme is going to be successful.

The Amazon Coin launch will be an interesting case study in whether or not virtual currencies can thrive as a loyalty promoting tool. Giving away 'free money' is not a sustainable business model and it will need a rapid return - even for Amazon - so the results are worth keeping an eye on.

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)