The_CEO_Magazine_ANZ_-_December_2016

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

The SAP ‘2016 Australian Digital
Experience Report’ surveyed 3,500
consumers in relation to 9,000 digital
interactions across seven industries,
with consumers asked to rank
interactions based on fourteen different
user experience categories.

The headline finding from the study is
that the digital performance of
Australian companies is getting
better, but consumers are far from
delighted or inspired by what they
get, and the report’s authors say
consumers are quick to click and find
a better experience.

“In today’s one-click economy,
consumers demand more every day
— better convenience, greater control,
and instant satisfaction. If a brand can’t
deliver it, the consumer will find
another that can,” the report says.

Rising customer expectations mean
that companies and brands have to
deliver a digital experience that at the
very least satisfies expectations
around the basic categories of security
and reliability. However, to truly
stand out and delight, companies need
to be ahead of the curve when it
comes to expectations.

What has been shown time and time
again is if brands aren’t ahead of the
curve, one of their competitors almost
certainly will be in this current climate
of digital disruption. And if it’s not from
a direct competitor in your industry, it
will be a start-up looking to take a cut
of your market, or a company from
another industry coming in and shaking
things up.

One of the things we’ve seen with the
transformation of industries through
digital technology is that it has
redefined market boundaries. Digital
technology has made it easier for
companies to become more flexible

about the products and services they

offer as well as the markets they target.

It’s what business academic Clayton

Christensen has identified as disruptive

innovation — companies creating new

markets and values by redefining the

problems consumers want solved.

This phenomenon has made customer

loyalty an even more fluid concept.

Doing the basics is no longer enough;

having a website and an app is the new

norm; companies have to step up and

personalise these digital properties in

order to connect with consumers and

win their loyalty.

One of the most interesting takeaways

from the study is the big gap between

the high scores recorded for what

we could call ‘head’ attributes of

the digital experience such as security

and reliability and those recorded

for what we could call ‘heart’

attributes like uniqueness, excitement

and individuality.

This makes sense to a large degree, as

one of the most important tasks in

getting consumers comfortable with the

digital and online experience has been

to satisfy issues around trust in regard

to privacy and security. One of the

biggest obstacles to mass uptake of

online commerce, for example, was to

convince consumers their credit card

details were safe.

Companies have worked hard over the

past decade to sure up their security

and give consumers a stronger privacy

framework. It’s still very much an

evolving project (and unless criminals

and hackers suddenly disappear

overnight, always will be) but the

progress made can be seen by the high

ratings consumers have given for

security and accessibility.

It’s a different story in the study’s

categories of ‘makes me feel

unique’, ‘excites and engages me’,

and ‘makes me feel important’,

which are the three categories in

which companies were rated lowest

by consumers.

These are the ‘heart’ categories; the

areas where companies have the

opportunity to differentiate themselves

and really make a pitch for the loyalty

of customers. It’s in these categories

that forward-thinking companies

will be looking to improve and move

ahead of their competitors and go

above and beyond the expectations of

their customers.

This is where the gap is really opening

for companies and brands: can your

digital experience connect and delight

your customers?

Thanks to the advances made mainly

by third party providers in the ‘head’

categories such as security and

usability, companies now should be

able to offer consumers a bedrock

digital experience that’s safe and

reliable (if a little boring).

Integrating this layer of ‘safe and

reliable’ with ‘unique and delightful’ is

the next challenging task for the digital

C-suite and brand managers. The

digital experience has to find its ‘heart’

if it is to win both the trust and the

loyalty of consumers.

One of the most important tasks in getting consumers comfortable

with the digital and online experience has been to satisfy issues

around trust in regard to privacy and security.