Remote operations
Marc Prempain
15 April 2024
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With the continuous digitalization of the world where online and hybrid methods of conducting business have become normalcy, traditional customer experience strategies are no longer the only customer-focused aspect of business one should focus on when trying to improve their customer service performance. In the world of technologies, mobile devices, and social media platforms, customer experience has to be viewed digitally as well. We will explain everything you need to know about digital transformation, digital customer experience, and what strategy to implement to keep your customer service of the highest value.
Digital customer experience (DCX) is an umbrella term for all the interactions between a customer and the company, as well as the impressions said customer walks away with. The key for DCX is that customers interact with support agents digitally – over the company’s website, through its social media platforms, or by email and other digital channels.
The most important thing about choosing the right digital customer experience practices for your business is that they should not be viewed in the same way as your general CX strategy. Digital interactions should be handled differently than traditional face-to-face meetings. Online customers have different expectations and preferences to those who choose to handle their issues offline.
Firstly, let’s define digital transformation. In essence, the term stands for integrating different digital technologies into all areas of business in order to promote the evolution of business operations and optimize customer experience as a whole. This new drive within digital customer experience allows for grasping the most accurate and the broadest view of your customers’ needs, behaviors, and customer journey. And throughout the era of such constant digital transformation, internet users have also become true digital natives with many digital touchpoints.
Customers, whether young and internet-driven or a bit older with more experience with online shopping and e-commerce, are nowadays more analytical, conscious, and demanding than ever before. They also have much higher standards – if they don’t find exactly what they want from one company exactly when they want it, they will find another business that can provide them with it.
Switching from one device to another has also become a common practice when searching for services online – in fact, nearly half of online users place it as something very important for a positive digital customer experience. Platforms and shops that are accessible through different digital channels and mobile apps, and that work well and look the same on different mobile devices, be it a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet, are thus favorable.
It is worth taking a closer look at generation Z, shortly called simply Gen Z. Ranging from teenagers to those soon entering their mid-twenties, this newest generation has grown up with technology and the internet. The internet and all within it is their safe space – they have learned it as it developed. They thus have different expectations towards businesses and define excellent digital customer experience differently. For them, it has to be faster, more seamless, more visual, more interactive. Luckily, with the best B2B ecommerce platforms and other modern e-commerce solutions, meeting these demands is more achievable than ever.
As Gen Z customers show to be very loyal to e-commerce – 46% are willing to pay more if the company has an online shop – they tend to be the main target for companies that wish to improve their digital customer experience and their online presence. They are also fond of proactive and responsive customer service (usually are not willing to wait longer than 5 minutes), as well as well-maintained and visually pleasing websites with quick loading time.
Now we have established the importance of DCX within businesses, here are some of the essential things you can implement in your digital customer experience strategy to improve your company’s performance and attract more customers.
Online shoppers find simplicity to be one of the most important factors of a pleasant digital customer experience. And the numbers are high – 83% of female and 77% of male e-commerce users have admitted that they would leave a website solely due to a complicated checkout process. Focus on visuals and graphic design – more than 55% of young shoppers leave if an online shop seems slow and unappealing to them.
As many as 80% of online shoppers feel that it is really important for them to still preserve the feeling of a personalized experience through getting in touch with a real person, rather than interacting with a bot or having to go through a list of Frequently Asked Questions when using online customer support service and live chats. Digital customer experience is much better and customer satisfaction with digital customer support is much higher when customers are met with an empathetic resolution from a proactive and engaging support agent that can help them in real time.
Make sure you have a designated digital experience platform, where your customers can share their experiences and opinions about your company, its offer and customer service execution. Why is that? Almost a half of those who use services online place giving feedback after purchases very high. What’s more, young users are even more likely (54%) to leave their reviews of your brand online on multiple channels. Give your customers as much freedom and choice to share their feedback directly to you depending on which devices they use most and which medium they are most active on – be it in the form of a feedback section on your website, reviews on your social media or your page on Google Maps, or your own customer feedback surveys.
Collecting digital customer experience records is one thing, but organizing all the relevant customer data with an efficient ticketing solution, studying it, and implementing changes based on what your customers think is another – and a more important one. Otherwise, how will your customers know that your brand values their views and finds it important to learn from their experiences, both the good and bad ones? Keep in mind that only 17% of customers believe that online businesses listen to their feedback. That’s very low, hence take this information and keep striving to be the one that does – that way you will provide a great digital customer experience and will be able to stand out from the industry crowd.
Focusing on developing a strong and thorough digital customer experience strategy is the best and most effective way to adapt to the technologically driven, rapidly changing times, all the while promoting customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. After all, valuable customer service is one of the most effective ways to maintain an engaging relationship with the company’s existing audience and to bring new customers on board. If you ensure your website and social media platforms are easy to use, your online customer service and support feel engaging and real, and you make use of customer feedback, you will have your digital transformation within customer experience under control.
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