How consumer expectations are changing in the digital world

Consumers are often information rich and time poor. It is now vital to deliver an efficient and tailored experience quicker than your competitors.

There is precious little time to waste when it comes to satisfying the consumer. But some time should be spent on understanding how we came to be where we are in the world of consumer expectations. Below we have outlined how consumer expectations are changing in the digital world and how to approach these changes with useful solutions.

Consumer expectations have changed

Consumer expectations have changed in many ways over the past few years. There is now a marked interest in providing tailored content as efficiently as possible. Consumer expectations are evolving with the technology and capitalizing on this growing interest is now big business. The “Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry is evolving rapidly and is expected to be a market that is worth $82 billion by 2025.” (Source: dqindia).

The important consumer demands

In particular, we should turn our attention to the demand for personalization and the demand for an instant response.

Firstly, the demand for personalization is at the forefront of the evolution of consumer expectations. In the current information age making consumers feel less like an anonymous buyer and more like a person with specific wants and needs is important. “Personalization is not a loyalty program ‘nice to have.’ It’s a “must have.” (Source: loyalty360).

With a purposefully designed Digital Customer Experience Platform, businesses can more easily achieve the desired personalization by showing customers what they want based on the data they have already shared with your business or even allowing customers to personalize their platform themselves. “84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business.” (Source: salesforce). Advances in social networking technologies and communication in the digital world ensure that without personalization you will be left behind.

Secondly, the demand for an instantaneous response is key. The tempo of consumption has increased along with the growth of the internet and on-demand technologies. We want it now, not later. The value of accurate and immediate response cannot be underestimated.

“As connectivity becomes ubiquitous and customers grow used to conversational interactions with brands, immediacy has become vital… 64% of consumers, and 80% of business buyers said they expect companies to respond to and interact with them in real time”. (Source: salesforce). Clearly, consumer expectations have changed.

How to meet modern consumer demands

Now that the nature of modern consumer expectation has been identified, it is time to put that information to use. With what we know about personalization and the instant response, we can find the best way to provide for the changing demands of consumers in a digital world.

Capturing data to draw insights

One of the most important factors that contribute to meeting modern consumer demands is analyzing and utilizing data. Getting data insights can be the difference between taking the next step forward or stagnating. “With the richness of data available… leaders and teams are increasingly amplifying the ingenuity of salespeople with data-driven insights.” (Source: dqindia).

Data insights, expert analysis and new technology, are the best way to enhance the digital customer experience, and doing so strategically is vital to success. Investment towards improving your digital workplace capabilities is a prime example of where a business can meet consumer demand more easily. Your platform should therefore provide analytics reports to help you draw these important insights that will provide a better customer experience throughout every touchpoint.

Sharing knowledge to serve better

Many businesses are still relying on old templates to govern their engagement with consumers. Sharing knowledge is one of the easiest ways to advance your ability to meet consumer demands. Your digital workplace should transform the process of finding information, bringing all documents and contacts together on one platform, streamlining the process to acquire much needed information. This knowledge can then be shared between different departments to provide a seamless experience to customers.

Get a Digital Customer Experience Platform

Ultimately, the ever-evolving digital world is good for business. It forces organizations to adapt and rewards innovation. Awareness is key. Hopefully, the pointers above have given you some insight into the value of having streamlined digital touchpoints.

The current technological climate creates exciting opportunities for innovation and interaction with digital consumers. A sophisticated Customer Experience Platform will help you adapt and keep you informed with tailored data insights. That’s why Unily offers a complete solution to provide for these changing demands of consumers. The Unily Digital Experience Platform offers detailed, useful analytics data on how users interact with your portal and gives you the ability to personalize content based on this without needing IT support.

As we have seen, meeting the dual demand of personalization and speedy response is key to creating a lasting relationship with your customers. Focusing on communication, networking, productivity, collaboration and knowledge through the Unily Customer Experience Platform could be the next step towards success for your business.

If you want to request more information or wish to enquire about how a Customer Experience Platform could improve your enterprise, please feel free to contact the Unily team of experts.