Why You Should Invest In Better Digital Customer Experience?

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning – Bill Gates

In the game of business, the customer is king. Your ability to function and grow as a business depends on his choices, and his choices only. Modern customers have become accustomed to superior customer experience, they expect nothing less. And as online sales are completely replacing brick-and-mortar shopping, the digital customer experience is the most important factor in your sales funnel.

The digital marketplace is growing by the minute, as many customers prefer to shop online. But many businesses are still catching on, and others, struggling to use digital technologies the right way. The sooner you realise the importance of investing in the digital customer experience the sooner you will be able to get ahead of your competition. And here is why.

What is digital customer experience?

The digital customer experience is all the digital interactions, or touchpoints, between a business and a customer. This umbrella term includes digital advertising, web design everything in between. The desired result isn’t only the better customer experience, but changes in business operations. In fact, improving the digital customer experience is possible only through an integrated approach and modifying all business operations, or what is known as a digital transformation.

Is a digital transformation worth it?

A digital transformation might sound daunting, but once you go through the process you and your employees will be more than glad you did it. And your customers will be happy too. 

Almost 40% of organizations have started implementing and executing digital transformation strategies. And while these companies will face many obstacles in this process, like insufficient funds, lack of skills and staff, legacy system replacement and even cultural issues, this move will pay. The reality is that sooner or later, all companies will have to endure this process, and the sooner you do it, the better.

Digital transformation as a strategy that helps businesses improve digital customer experience

The desired results of a digital transformation are: a functioning digital funnel, data-driven decisions, increased productivity, ability to follow trends, a faster response time, a smoother, more intuitive website. All of these things add up and create the ultimate digital customer experience that will make your customers happy. If the customer is happy with the experience, he is more likely to buy again and recommend your brand to friends, or write a positive review online. 

Customers have really come to expect this, and by not jumping on the bandwagon you are holding your company back.

How to implement a digital transformation?

It is understandable that not every company has the know-how and infrastructure to carry out a digital transformation on its own. The skills needed for a digital transformation of a business span from IT, data security, workforce strategy and data management. And most important of all, a deep understanding of the desired customer experience.

To make things run more smoothly, you might want to consider hiring an experienced specialist, or an agency that can help you with the process. 

Is a digital transformation worth it?

If you are not convinced yet, consider the case of Amazon. They are the largest marketplace int the world, and not because they offer the best deal. Actually, they are one of the more expensive online stores to shop on, but customers both prefer and keep coming back to them for just about anything. Why?

The answer is simple. Because their business is extremely customer experience-oriented, they really do provide some of the best services out there. Their customer service is impeccable, and because of their internal infrastructure, they are one of the most reliable online companies in the world.

Their systems use customer data to create individually curated suggestion sits. Also, the system can prepare automated e-mail offer and even adjust prices based on the customer profile. All of these activities enable them to upsell products and constantly keep their customers engaged and coming back.

Considering the size of the company and their budgets, you might not be able to do everything they have. Of course,  they are still a great example to learn from about what a strong focus on the customer experience supported by an internal digital infrastructure can achieve.

3 things you can do instantly digital customer experience

We are sure by now you are convinced: your next major business move should be a digital transformation. To help you out, here is a list of the 3 things you should focus on first:

Personalize the customer experience

Use modern technology to store customers’ names and provide offers with their name. Technology can help you store and use purchase history and recommend related products based on past purchases. This survey has shown that 75% of modern consumers prefer brands that use this individual approach.

Avoid complexity

Did you know that modern Internet users are leaving online stores after a minute when they don’t find what they were looking for? Usually, this happens when the website is just too difficult to navigate. Sure, adding content rich in keywords is good for SEO. But, remember that ultimately you are running a site so you can attract real people, not web crawlers.

Use engaging and simple language on your site and try to help people find what they are interested in FAST. Modern people don’t have time and they want to finish a purchase after a few clicks. A good search feature will help you a lot in this process.

Make things even easier for the customers

If your main sales channel is the Internet, then you should do your best to make it easier for your customers to learn more about your offer. This is not the same as going to a physical store. There you can talk to the salesperson, look at the product and hold it in your hand.

Because the online experience lacks these possibilities, many online stores are compensating through features like chatbots and adding 360 images, videos, and customer reviews. This way people can the product better and know exactly what to expect.

Are you ready to give your customers exactly what they want? Read this mini-guide and start your digital transformation today!