Digital Trends drive Indian Consumers’ Demand for more Control: Consumer Survey

Amdocs, the provider of customer experience solutions, announced the findings of a global survey that highlights the impact of the digital lifestyle on Indian consumers’ expectations from their service providers. Consumers are increasingly demanding the ability to control and personalize their products, services, and experiences- a trend indicating wider digital shift in consumer behavior.

According to the survey, while Indian consumers prefer to use digital channels to interact with digital businesses or brands—such as Amazon and Uber, when it comes to telecom, they are not widely using their service providers’ digital channels for customer care or self-care service. The survey also reveals that many consumers would consider switching to digital companies such as Facebook and Google, if they were to offer connectivity similar to that of traditional service providers.

Amdocs Customer Experience Spotlight 2016, is an independent, global study conducted by 451 Research on behalf of Amdocs. It highlights the importance of embracing and anticipating the emerging digital habits of consumers in order to deliver a superior customer experience and offset competition from digital players. The survey was conducted among 7000 consumers in 14 countries, including Thailand, Singapore, India, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Key findings include:

• Digital lifestyle is changing consumer demands and shifting the balance of power to consumers: 75% (60% globally) of respondents valued the ability to control and personalize their devices and services. 70% (54% globally) wanted to receive offerings that were specifically relevant to their needs and interests, while 67% (55% globally) would prefer to access self-service using digital platforms to avoid calling customer care. Furthermore, respondents said they would recommend their service provider to friends and family if they could perform a wide range of actions via self-service – specifically, if they could personalize their products and services (71%).
• The appetite for digital alternatives is increasing: Indian consumers are becoming accustomed to the customer experience delivered by the new digital companies, with 86% (75% globally) of respondents preferring to interact with these companies via digital channels. Significantly, 76% (73% globally) expressed a willingness to leave their current service provider if they could receive a comparable level of wireless connectivity from digital companies. 77% respondents said they would switch if network data quality was acceptable, while 44% (39% globally) would do so if customer service and support were better than that from their current service provider.
•  Digital immediacy drives new expectations and new forms of engagement: The survey indicates that digital channels are increasingly becoming the preferred choice for Indian consumers to find information about new products or services, as well as to order a new service; however, they still prefer to visit a retail store or call customer care to obtain fast and immediate service. The survey also indicates that more than half of respondents didn’t know how to use digital or self-service channels offered by service providers, a third thought they didn’t work well. To improve overall customer satisfaction, customers want service providers to engage with them via their channels of choice – chat using a third-party social network messenger or instant messenger app (50 %), the ability to call customer service via mobile video (51 %) and the ability to chat using service providers’ own self-service chat application (45 %).
• Service providers must embrace digital to remain relevant: Asked what they expected their service provider to improve, almost half of respondents said that they wanted products and services that were personalized. Respondents also wanted more interactivity and control over their choices, including the ability to build a customized pricing plan to match their needs (77%), change plan components at any time (76%) and share data usage with family members, whether they are prepaid or postpaid subscribers (76%). 49% said they wanted service providers to understand their needs and provide them with relevant offers accordingly.
• “India is one of the fastest growing digital economies with a booming ecommerce industry, app-based taxi services and innovations in mobile payments, all which are serving to set a higher benchmark for customer experience,” said Jatinder Ahuja, head of India and Southwest Asia business, Amdocs. “As a result, to remain relevant in the eyes of customers, improve customer engagement and deliver the types of experiences customers demand in the digital age, service providers must work quickly to make critical adjustments to their digital strategy and align with the wider digital shift.”