According to new Kameleoon data nearly three-quarters (73%) of consumers say their current online experiences will change how they interact with brands in the future and half say that their needs 'have not been met' by brands during the pandemic. Much of the problem seems to come from a lack of personalization; about half of consumers surveyed said that the brands that had personalized the online experience during COVID would continue to get their business once restrictions are lifted and life returns to normal.
"What is clear is that the current crisis will lead to long-term change in consumer behaviour, and that brands need to react now if they want to safeguard their future revenues," said Jean-Rene Boidron, CEO, Kameleoon. "Half of UK consumers will switch from brands that don't deliver the personalized experience that they want - yet 76% say that brands are failing them. This needs to be a wake-up call for brands to focus on experimentation and customizing the experience for each and every consumer if they want to retain their business in the future."
Exactly what do consumers want from brands and marketers? According to Gladly's 2020 Customer Expectations Report personalization tops the list of customer wants, followed by the ability to use texting and email to solve customer service issues. In fact most (86%) say they want customer service conversations to 'move seamlessly' between channels.
And, where personalization is concerned, people don't just want their name to be at the top of an email. More than half want favorite brands to know their purchase history, and to remember previous conversations. This means brands and merchants need to be able to seamlessly move from branded website to social network to email and to text, not necessarily in that order, with every customer.
"Customer service traffic has increased under current circumstances, with conversation volumes across a representative group of Gladly brands 3x higher since the holidays. To deliver exceptional customer service amidst heightened traffic, brands need to be able to move across channels seamlessly, limiting customer repetition. Doing so builds customer rapport, loyalty, and trust, and lets customers feel known while also allowing agents to help more customers and ultimately driving down contact center costs," said Mike McCarron, VP of Sales, Gladly. "Based on the Channel Usage data, we found that consumers continue to gravitate toward phone and email when communicating with their favorite brands, but newer generations are turning to Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. That's a lot of channels to keep up with. Additionally, customers want these answers quickly - under a minute for live chat and within one to three minutes over SMS. These expectations haven't changed since shelter in place orders took effect - in fact, we've only seen them become more apparent."
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