Social media is more important than phone calls or email for customer experience

Source: Genesys infographic.

Genesys, a provider of customer experience (CX) and contact centre solutions, today released a study which reveals that more than a third of companies in Asia Pacific (37%) consider social media as one of their most important CX channels.

The study* shows that while face-to-face communications still ranks as the top CX channel, social media is now more important than both phone calls and email interactions.

“Consumers are going digital more than ever,” said Bruce Eidsvik, Senior Vice President of Genesys Asia Pacific. “In Asia, we hardly think twice when shopping online or posting our feedback and enquiries on companies’ social media channels, therefore it makes sense that we now lead the world when it comes to digital CX engagement. As economies across the region continue to move towards more service-based economies, Asia’s leadership in digital engagement places it as the pioneer that other regions will look to for CX innovation.”

The EIU study shows a direct correlation between CEO engagement in customer experience and profitability. When CEOs lead CX initiatives, those initiatives are more likely to transform a company’s future success. The survey found that 58% of companies reported much higher profitability than their competitors when the CEO is in charge of customer experience, and 59% experience better revenue growth as a result of prioritising CX investments.

Source: Genesys infographic.

In Southeast Asia, investment in customer experience is growing faster than other regions, with 42% of companies boosting investments by more than 10% in the past three years, with an expectation that they will increase by the same margin over the next three years.

The study also found that CEOs in Southeast Asia are more likely to have the final say on CX initiatives than CEOs anywhere else in the world. “Ambitious companies are driving large investments in customer experience initiatives to adapt to the digital communication channels customers are demanding,” said Charles Ross, Senior Editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit and lead researcher of the study.

“By prioritising CX and placing the CEO in charge, companies are taking an extra step to drive revenue growth and improve profitability.”

There is still room for improvement however. Southeast Asia (24%) is the second lowest sub-region in Asia Pacific by customer ratings of their overall experience with companies. Therefore, organisations in the region need to step up their game if they are to make the most of their growing investments in CX technology.

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*Conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the survey of 516 senior level executives in 21 countries explores the impact of customer experience efforts and leadership on business performance. A third of the respondents were from Asia Pacific, including Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Genesys explains how Asian businesses can do e-commerce better

Source: Genesys.
Thomassain.

Many businesses fall short of their e-commerce promises or fail to keep up with the rapidly evolving expectations of their customers, says Genesys, which provides businesses with a customer experience platform that enables them to leverage customer information and data from their contact centre interactions for a seamless customer experience.

"According to a Forrester report, the estimated total of annual abandoned shopping cart revenue will reach US$31 billion dollars in the next few years," said Erwann Thomassain, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific, Genesys. "Forrester’s 2013 study, CX online, revealed that 52% of customers will abandon online purchases if they can’t find a quick answer." 

One reason is an attention span that is growing shorter, says Thomassain. "It’s estimated that 55% of people spend fewer than 15 seconds actively on a page and 38% who visited a page closed it immediately after it loads. When moving online, businesses have to get it right. As statistics show customers can be unforgiving, so creating a unique customer experience is pivotal to retention and repeat sales," he said.

Another reason is logistics, he said. "Customers are increasingly demanding shorter lead times and reliable logistics providers," he noted. 

Another hurdle businesses in the region have to overcome is the underdeveloped banking services, Thomassain added. "Low banking and credit card penetration rate is an obstacle to businesses looking to offer fast and convenient online payment to complement their e-commerce offerings. Across the region, markets like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines said less than 5% of e-commerce shoppers paid online last year."

Genesys believes that live multi-channel interaction along with detailed profiles and catering to the buying behaviours of customers is what will help convert the remaining 80% of ‘wanderers’ during the browsing stage of the buying cycle. "With the competition for customer loyalty heating up, understanding that customers expect an effortless yet engaging service is crucial and must be considered in the customer experience journey provided," he said. "Businesses ignoring this trend are simply missing out of potential sales and giving away market share to their competitors."

To establish a successful presence in e-commerce, Thomassain advises businesses to: 

- Make it as easy and hassle-free as possible. "With the average attention span on a website at 15 seconds (that is, if they stay pass the page has completely loaded), customers can get easily frustrated when maneuvring through sites, so it’s important to simplify the process and ensure they don’t switch elsewhere else in one swift click," he said.

- Think about security. "Nothing ruins a customer’s confidence in a retailer than having all their personal and financial information leaked to hackers due to vulnerable firewalls," he pointed out.

- Use multi-channel platforms to fully identify and understand the context of each customer interaction. "With a holistic view into the customer journey, businesses will then be able to power great customer experiences," he explained. 

Read what Genesys thinks about e-commerce potential in Asia Pacific here.

Asian businesses need more e-commerce smarts: Genesys

Source: Genesys.
Thomassain.

Asia Pacific overtook Europe as the largest consumer for online shopping for the first time this year, says Genesys, and the only way forward is up. 

"Driven by the potential of the Chinese market, increasing Internet access and the growing adoption of smartphones and tablet computers, Asia is experiencing an e-commerce explosion. By end of 2014, business to consumer e-commerce sales will hit US$525 billion in Asia, that’s half of the world’s online sales," noted Erwann Thomassain, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific, Genesys, which provides businesses with a customer experience platform that enables them to leverage customer information and data from their contact centre interactions.

Thomassain also pointed to the e-commerce potential of much of Southeast Asia countries. "With the fastest growing Internet population in the world, with recent statistics estimating 530% growth over the past five years, alongside favourable age demographics, Philippines is well-placed to reap benefits of online retail. Indonesia is not far behind with an estimated 430% Internet growth," he said.

Thomassain noted that today's consumers are 'always on' and able to consume, purchase, share content from their mobile devices wherever they are. "It’s up to businesses to push the content they want directly to them," he said. "In South Korea, 49% of consumers use their smartphones to research online purchases. As consumers seek faster and more convenient ways to shop, we can expect e-commerce to continue to rise as new trends and technologies emerge, vying for the attention of today’s 'always-on' consumer."

This year's 'Singles Day' online shopping festival, driven by Alibaba, shows how consumers have embraced mobile and online shopping. The November 11 sale saw a record number of 278 million orders placed during the 24 hours with 42.6% of the gross merchandise volume generated on mobile devices, Thomassain said, quoting Forbes data. "Being aware of the limitations of a mobile screen and so not to affect the customer experience, merchandise recommendations were precisely customised to allow for a more efficient and effective cross- and up-sell process. This is customer experience at its best," he commented.

It follows that businesses will need to customise their outreach for the online and mobile spaces if they are to be successful in the long term, Thomassain said. 

"It is no longer the brick-and-mortar store days where it’s all about attracting customers into the shops. Control is now with the customer, demanding companies to be where they are, be it on social media or user generated content sites, and they want an individually tailored customer experience," he said. "More and more businesses are expanding their presence into the online space and existing businesses are continuously modifying the online experience to stay ahead of the curve."

Thomassain shared two shopping trends that show how e-commerce and physical retail are converging. One challenge for physical retailers is 'showrooming', the practice of browsing merchandise in physical stores but buying it online at better prices. "We can only expect this trend to take hold as e-commerce adoption continues," he noted.

At the same time there is an emerging, competing trend for 'reverse showrooming', where research for products is conducted online and the purchase is completed in a physical store. "According to the Google Marketing Shopping Council, 84% of smartphone shoppers use their phones to assist their store shopping experience," Thomassain said. 

Thomassain advised retailers to embrace the latest customer behaviour to grow, for example by offering incentives that entice online traffic into physical stores.