Strategies to deliver the best-in-class digital customer experience in 2023

“In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away.” — Douglas A. Warner III

It is rightly said by Douglas A. Warner III, that rivals can sweep away your customers in seconds if you fail to offer a seamless digital customer experience to them. Designing the strategies considering only traditional methods in mind will not be sufficient in this digital-first era. To remain always connected with the customer, companies must embrace new-age methods and technology to provide an unparalleled customer experience. 

Technology enables not just customer experience management but also provides consumer insights which can be used by both emerging and established brands to build business strategies. According to the EY report, statistics show that India's consumer digital economy is expected to be a US$800 billion market in 2030, with an estimated 10X growth from 2020. With the internet revolutionizing the world, brands recognize the need to engage their customers through the right digital experiences. The way they interact and engage with customers is evolving in an unprecedented way. Today, the customers are much more informed about the digital revolution and is equipped to use it in their favour. Hence, the need for a ‘Digital customer experience’ to keep chords attached with customers. 

Let’s dive into some strategies that businesses can implement to provide the best-in-class digital customer experience in 2023:

• An omnichannel customer experience is an approach that ensures seamless interaction and connection with customers across all channels, both online and offline. With the penetration of the internet, customers expect support at every touchpoint they are available at for the best of their comfort and convenience. It includes social media, shopping sites, chat support, emails, websites, chat apps, and other touchpoints. The need to have an omnichannel customer experience is paramount to provide a similar experience at any platform customers are using to reach out to the brand. This also enables brands to understand the customer profiles better and address their concerns much faster seamlessly.

• In today's world, taking a customer-centric approach is more than just a catchphrase. It has become an increasingly important business requirement to provide customers with a great and seamless experience. "By putting forth the effort to better understand the habits, tendencies, and value of each and every one of our customers, you can build better, stronger, and more profitable companies," says Peter Fader, professor of marketing at Wharton University. Implementing a customer-centric approach helps in fostering stronger relationships and loyalties with the customers.

• Mapping customer journeys, implementing a customer-centric approach, and omnichannel presence are some of the key techniques for curating a personalized strategy for customer experience services. It is an essential component of branding, and no business can thrive in today's highly competitive market without it. By using customer data and AI technology, businesses can tailor a personalized customer experience to everyone’s preferences, needs, and behaviour. Personalized experiences increase brand loyalty, improve customer satisfaction, and retention, and build a strong brand recall value.

• Conversational AI driven chatbots enable brands to provide immediate and relevant responses to customers. Chatbots are becoming smarter to communicate better with customers and resolve their issues more appropriately round the clock without increasing the cost of such support. With tech upgrades, chatbots are now aligned with the internal systems that help them to access customers' data and can provide them personalized assistance. The AI engine can also learn from user intent and sentiment to improve and automate the conversational experience over time.

• A digital customer experience strategy identifies and eliminates stumbling blocks, increases digital customer engagement, and creates a more seamless customer journey. With the customers’ journey mapped out, CXM platforms have information on their end-to-end experiences. It helps the teams to analyse the customers’ insights and plan better strategies to have more efficient relations with the customers. The analysis not only shares insights into customers’ perception & preference but also helps in identifying upcoming trends and potential crises, in advance.

• First impression is the last impression. Who knew it could be this true that a delay in response can taint the entire experience for the customer? To be able to identify and understand the gap/ issue in the experience journey and then addressing it immediately to fix gaps is just a part of what a CXM platform offers. It promotes brand advocacy, increases customer retention, and fosters loyalty. Over the years, the brands have realized the power of customer experience and how it can change the perception with one incident. Hence, investing in a CXM (customer experience management) or CDP (Customer Data Platforms) has become the core part of business strategies to stay ahead in the competitive world.

With the tremendous growth in internet consumption and usage of diverse platforms, it is imperative to have CXM strategies in place to outperform the competition. Businesses must invest in a technology partner and provide an appropriate range of solutions to meet customers' demands. In 2023, digital CX will undergo significant change, with several new variables taking centre stage. The most effective solutions in this field must be capable of transforming all of that structured and unstructured data into insights that help to improve each stage of the customer journey.

The article has been written by Shubhi Agarwal, Co-Founder and COO of Locobuzz