Study: Experience key to loyalty

New data out from Sitel Group underlines the importance of the digital experience, even for people who are making an in-person purchase. According to their researchers found that nearly half (43%) of consumers say they would 'stop doing business' with brands who offered a poor customer experience, even during the pandemic.The good news? Most are also being more forgiving about certain experience points because of the lockdown orders.

For example, 36% say they are in favor of policies implemented by brands because of the pandemic and about half (49%) say they 'haven't changed their opinion' of a brand because of new policies brought about by COVID-19. In fact, many (27%) say retailers have been the most innovative about changing policies to improve customer experiences with BOPIS options topping the list of improvements that consumers like (48%).

"The last three months have challenged consumers and brands like never before, and we are all faced with understanding a new reality: How do we shift from adapting to the crisis to driving a success strategy in this future world?" said Martin Wilkinson-Brown, Global CMO at Sitel Group. "In this quickly changing world, customer experience is truly one of the only ways for brands to stay competitive within their industries and now more than ever it's critical to meet consumers where they want to interact with brands. Our COVID-19: the CX Impact study reveals that brands have a short window of time to construct their plan for the future, and consumers are rewarding innovation over passive action."

Other interesting findings from the report include:

▪ Pre-COVID 54% of consumers said they had a 'better experience' shopping online than offline
▪ 3 months into COVID 76% say the same thing
▪ 35% say they'd prefer finding a solution themselves than contacting customer support about an issue

More data from Sitel Group can be accessed here.

Tags: ecommerce, ecommerce trends, loyalty marketing, loyalty marketing trends, Sitel Group