Welcome to the Experience Economy, where businesses must form unique connections in order to secure their customers’ affections – and ensure their own economic vitality.”
"The above quote from a 1998 article in the Harvard Business Review by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, expressing their vision of the new concept of customer relationships, echoes the mantra for today’s market competitiveness.
Consumer behavior has changed over time, especially in the last century. The Manufacturing Age made industrial powerhouses like Ford, Boeing and GE hugely successful, the age of distribution created companies such as Walmart, Toyota, P&G, and UPS, and the Information Era has prompted the rise of companies like Yahoo and Google. We are now facing the Customer Age, which has empowered engagement and personalization on different channels for people using products and services.
What has become patently clear, is that businesses now face unprecedented changes on a global scale in economic, technological, and consumer behavior.
It is no longer about price positioning or adding another feature to your product for the sake of innovation, but about this single differentiator: the Customer Experience. Customer Experience and eCommerce go hand in hand.
We expect nothing less than a seamless, agreeable process that takes relatively little time, and is personalized and straight-to-the-point.
Conceiving and delivering the best online experience is not, however, as easy as it may seem at first glance. Each year, we buy more and more online, from beauty products to clothes, food, and other everyday essentials. Why do we do so? One reason is that we have gone digital. Another has to do with the implications of this digitalization: faster service, more customized experiences, less stress, more convenience, and so on.
According to market research, 80% of companies think they offer great customer experiences, but only 8% of consumers actually agree. What can we do to earn our customers’ loyalty, and how do we keep it? Let’s take a dive together into the world of Customer Experience."
