Personalised, connected experiences a priority

omnichannelretailCustomer loyalty is at risk for organisations that are unable to provide a seamless experience across all channels, a survey from MuleSoft shows.

The study “Consumer Connectivity Insights 2018” shows majority, or 76 per cent, of Australians would consider changing their bank, retailer or insurance provider due to a disconnected experience.

More than four out of five or 84 per cent, of Australian consumers believe that organisations in at least one of the four sectors surveyed (banking, insurance, retail, government) provide a disconnected experience.

Government services was seen as the worst performer, with 72 per cent of consumers saying they received a disconnected experience. According to the study, this could likely be due to a lack of competitive pressure on governments to improve service delivery.

Retailers were the best performers, but more than half (59 per cent) of Australian consumers have said they still received disconnected experiences, highlighting more needs be done to satisfy customers.
In private industries, a majority of Australian consumers said disconnected experience would make them consider changing to another service provider or vendor: Banks – 61 per cent,     Insurance – 67 per cent and Retailers – 67 per cent.

The level of personalisation varies considerably between industries. In Australia, the most personalised experiences are seen in the finance (70 per cent) and insurance (61 per cent) sectors. Meanwhile, government services – at all levels – are the least likely to feel personalised, with only 41 per cent of consumers saying government interactions feel personalised.

“Across all industries, organisations are falling short in delivering connected customer experiences,” said Will Bosma, MuleSoft VP of Asia Pacific. “Australians are calling for on-demand experiences where their needs are meet in minutes not days.”

Bosma said the risks for organisations that fail to adapt are significant – more than 60 per cent of Australians have considered changing a service provider due to a disconnected experience.

“While only a small percentage actually actioned this threat in the past 12 months, we can expect many more to act on their words if organisations do not act quickly to improve connectivity and personalisation,” he said.

As consumer expectations rapidly evolve due to the entrance of new technologies, delivering a connected consumer experience remains a challenge for many organisations, MuleSoft’s study shows. To improve customer service, one technology area organisations are looking to invest in more is chatbots.

Consumer Connectivity Insights 2018 revealed that while many organisations are adopting chatbots, improvements need to be made to ensure this new technology is effectively responding to customer needs.

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