8 in 10 Consumers Willing to Pay More for a Better Customer Experience as Big Businesses Fall Short of Expectations
Capgemini, a global firm in consulting, technology and outsourcing services, has announced a study of more than 3,300 consumers and 450 executives at the companies that serve them. The research reveals a gap between how businesses and consumers perceive the quality of their customer experience. While three-quarters (75%) of organizations believe themselves to be customer-centric, only 30% of consumers agree. Frustrated by organizations that don’t listen to their feedback or reward their loyalty, the majority of consumers are willing to increase their spend with an organization in return for a better experience (81%). Yet, nearly a third of businesses (31%) say they face a challenge in keeping up with the rapidly evolving technology landscape and consumers’ digital expectations.
Reality check for big businesses on customer experience
The report, which surveyed consumers across Australia, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, UK and US, provides a reality check for big businesses in their efforts to deliver better customer experiences through digital. Not only is there a big disconnect between businesses and consumers on what represents customer centricity but also on whether the customer experience is improving. Capgemini used the industry standard Net Promoter Score - an index ranging from minus 100 to plus 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company's products or services – to gauge consumer satisfaction. 90% of companies believed that their organizations’ Net Promoter Score had increased by 5 points over the last three years, but only 54% consumers agreed with this.
Utilities and consumer products companies most out of sync with customers
The report also highlights significant differences between industries. Internet services companies and their customers are almost in step and setting the bar for other organizations, while utilities and consumer products companies have a long way to go to meet consumer expectations.
Consumers ready to reward better experiences with increased spending
Only three in ten of the 125 unique organizations identified in the study are matching their customers’ expectations. For the remaining 70%, the rewards for delivering a better experience are high as 8 in 10 consumers (81%) indicate that they are willing to spend more with an organization for a better customer experience, and 1 in 10 (9%) consumers would increase spend by more than a half. Consumers in India (98%) and China (95%) are most likely to reward good experiences with increased spend, while those in Germany (61%) and The Netherlands (72%) are least likely.
The digital experience is key for consumers
For consumers, digital is key to meeting expectations. Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute evaluated organizations across 80 different digital experience attributes - ranging from the ability to view and edit personal data to personalizing products and services on mobile devices - to create a Digital Customer Experience (DCX) Index. The more digital attributes an organization has deployed - and the more advanced those digital attributes are - the higher its DCX Index score. When mapped against consumers’ willingness to spend more, Capgemini discovered that for each single point increase in the DCX Index score consumers would be willing to spend 0.6% more with an organization. The study also found that the top ten companies with the highest DCX Index saw their share prices increase by 16% per year over the last five years whereas the bottom ten players increased their share prices by only about 6% on average.
