10 current digital customer experience trends

Happy customers equal a successful business. Eighty percent of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services.

Here are 10 digital customer experience trends that a company can leverage to win over shoppers.

Customer experience trends 

There are many aspects of the customer experience to highlight, but here are the top 10 trends worth mentioning that will enhance the customer journey.

1. There is value in chatbots

The chatbot market’s value was $17.17 billion in 2020, and analysts project it will reach $102.29 billion by 2026. These figures demonstrate that companies grasp the benefits of using chatbots throughout their process. The following pie chart breaks down the most common use of chatbots for businesses.

Image Source: https://financesonline.com/chatbot-statistics/

Why do customers like chatbots? 

• Chatbots mean that a company is available 24/7 to answer questions or provide support

• Customers are more likely to visit a competitor’s site than send an email to a company with an inquiry

• Customers are content to have a chatbot guide them through straightforward queries or issues via artificial intelligence

• Customers are starting to use chatbots to reach customer service agents versus looking up a phone number

• Improves customer engagement and meets customer expectations via automation

2. We still need humans

We still need people to address the more intrinsic issues. That said, customers expect the representative to be knowledgeable and empathetic during customer interactions. 

There’s no need to be overly ambitious if dealing with sales since the customer came to you and already did a level of research. The potential buyer may be comparing brands, and their perceived treatment from a sales representative can determine their ultimate choice.

3. Be transparent

Customers value transparency in all areas, including:

• Product pricing – A first step is to show the price on the website. Then, ensure there are no additional fees at checkout.

• Online reviews – Customers appreciate an open platform that displays both negative and positive reviews, as well as the business’ response to each one.

• Behind the scenes – More and more, customers want to see how a business operates. One way to achieve that is to allow people to follow your brand and personnel on social media.

4. Provide a harmonious omnichannel customer experience

Like instruments in an orchestra, every digital channel needs to have customer data in sync to provide a streamlined customer experience. If a customer starts a thread with a chatbot and then receives a live agent, they will not need to repeat themselves because the data history is present. If a buyer adds an item to their cart on the mobile app, they can continue where they left off and complete the purchase on the website. It’s imperative to keep the lines of communication open among all of the channels to ensure efficiency is demonstrated to customers at all times. 

Image Source: https://www.zingle.com/blog/what-is-an-omnichannel-customer-experience-why-is-it-important/

5. Personalize, personalize, personalize

Customers not only want you to know their names but remember their purchase history and make personalized recommendations from that information. Personalization will continue to be a significant customer experience trend for businesses to improve.

Some examples include:

• Customized suggestions through email marketing

• Promote customer search results based on past activity or preferences

• Predict when a customer will need to resupply and create a notification either on the site, app or through email

To personalize, you need data. Customers are willing to provide data as a value exchange for a personalized shopping experience.

6. Customer data security is critical

While customers are willing to make their data available for personalized experiences, they expect companies to protect it. There were 1,001 data breaches in the United States in 2020, and 155.8 million records were exposed. These are a few steps a business can take to protect customer data, all involving employee training:

• Stay updated on revised laws and regulations concerning data privacy and protection

• Be aware of phishing emails

• Increase password complexity and set password expiration for user accounts

• Limit the number of employees with access to sensitive information and use multi-factor authentication

7. Stand out from the competition

With companies making concerted efforts to improve the customer experience, how can your business stand out? Here are a few suggestions:

• Reexamine your Unique Selling Point

• Demonstrate your values, like being environmentally or socially conscious

• In light of the pandemic, show how you prioritize customer and employee safety

8. Incorporate emotive technology

Customers appreciate when a business understands both what they are saying and what they are feeling. There is an emerging technology that recognizes a person’s emotions and can help companies act appropriately. The caveat is that the application of any technology can be good or bad. Use the emotion technology to benefit the customer, not the company.

9. Customers will use their voices

More and more customers are using voice-enabled virtual assistants for their searches and online shopping. Reasons for this trend include a more straightforward buying process and personalization, as the assistant leverages data already on the device. Incorporating voice recognition technology will keep you ahead of the digital customer experience trend.

10. Leverage videos

“People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content, including social media posts, blog posts/articles, and product pages,” declared a 2021 report by Wyzowl. The same report added that 78% of video marketers said video directly helped increase sales. Ideas for video production include:

• Demo videos

• Social media videos

• Sales videos

• Ads

The following video is an explainer video, contains additional insights on customer experience trends, and highlights a thought-provoking point on emotive technology.

Stay ahead of digital customer experience trends with Optimizely

You can partner with Optimizely and its Digital Experience Platform (DXP) for your experience management needs. Our offerings will sync data on every customer and brand interaction across all digital channels and deliver real-time, personalized insights about customer experience and shopping behaviors. 

Contact us today for more information!