Digital customer experience: You have seconds to impress

In the digital economy, a few seconds can make the difference between winning or losing a customer.

In a recent survey by Limelight Networks, 80 per cent of users said they would abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load.  Customer expectations have changed profoundly as a result of the explosion of digital choice and the acceleration of innovation. Now, the experience has to be flawless.

The cost of poor customer service can be devastating.  Research company Access Development reports that 79 per cent of customers would take their business to a competitor within a week of experiencing poor customer service, while the estimated cost of customers switching their choice of businesses is $1.6 trillion.

“If you don’t make it fast and easy, you lose customers, “ says digital marketing and customer experience pioneer, Gerry McGovern.  “We need to develop a return on investment model for ease of use.  There are huge returns, but we’re not measuring them”.

Coffee on the go

The Starbucks mobile app is cited as one of the best examples of making the customer experience easier.  It manages a customer’s loyalty points and lets them place orders in advance, so they don’t have to wait in line.  The app has been so popular among customers that it’s now used for one in four purchases.

Recent Gartner research shows that 89 per cent of companies expect to compete on customer experience, rather than on product or price.  Similarly, a Forrester Research survey confirms that the best investment an organization can make is in improving the digital customer experience.

Companies with strong customer engagement across a number of channels will be well positioned to meet consumer expectations.  At the same time, many organizations need better visibility into their customers’ behaviour and the performance of their services across all of the channels.  New application experience tools can be the key to enabling an organization to deliver a premium service that is always consistent.

An upcoming ITWC webinar will provide the details on how organizations can measure the user experience to make sure their customers are delighted and devoted.

Webinar details

Join us for the webinar, “User experience is critical, but how do we REALLY deliver better services and improve digital experiences?”.  The session will be hosted by ITWC CIO Jim Love and will feature guest speaker Bryan Whitmarsh, Senior Principal Product Manager at CA Technologies.

Wednesday, November 30, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET

Register Now
 

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Steve Proctor
Steve Proctorhttp://www.itworldcanada.com
Steve is Vice-President Marketing and Communication with ITWC. He spent 25 years in progressively senior positions as a journalist and editor with the Halifax Herald, with his final ten years as Business Editor. He has published two books and his freelance articles have appeared in national and regional magazines. He has led social media and communication efforts for two crowdfunding ventures and written and directed numerous dinner theatres for charitable endeavours.

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