Today, having an exceptional product or service won’t guarantee that a brand’s customer experience will be amazing. What truly sets a brand apart is how it interacts with its customers online, from the start to beyond the sale. Customers today have a wide range of options. There are alternatives for every business, product, or service. This is why it is so important for every business to deliver an excellent digital customer experience.
A recent study from Microsoft Research revealed that nearly 90% of customers said that they would be more likely to make another purchase after receiving a positive customer experience from brands.
What is Digital Customer Experience?
As more customers embrace digital platforms, digitizing customer experience strategy becomes crucial to effectively engage and serve a growing online audience. Digital Customer Experience refers to how customers interact with brands through digital channels such as social media, emails,
mobile apps, and AI chatbots. It only focuses on the online part of the customer journey to make digital interactions smooth.
Why is Digital Customer Experience Management Important?
Digital customer experience management improves convenience for customers. It shows your customers that you understand their needs. With the help of digital customer experience management, companies can offer personalized experiences to their customers, which results in increased revenue and customer loyalty.
Netflix is an excellent example of digital customer experience. It consistently gets better to stay ahead in the competitive environment. Rather than simply asking, “Who are our customers?” Netflix asks, “Who is this person, and how can we ensure they opt for us versus other entertainment platforms?” This helps them provide customized experiences and retain audiences.
How to Fix the Gaps in your Brand’s Digital Customer Experience
Let’s have a quick look at the most common Digital customer experience gaps & ways to fix them.
- Limited number of communication channels
- Delayed responses and issue resolution
- Non-personalized experiences
- Mobile optimization
- Ignoring customer feedback
- Overwhelming interface
1. Limited number of communication channels
Customers expect businesses to offer services across all communication channels. Being present only on 1 or 2 communication channels will not suffice and will create a bad experience.
How to fix it – Businesses should start by identifying which channels their customers prefer to connect with the most, whether it is social media, emails, mobile apps, or chatbots. With these preferences in mind, businesses can then start providing support on their preferred channels. All channels should be well integrated so that customer conversations stay smooth and uninterrupted regardless of where they begin. Investing in the right tools and training the support team to manage several channels together can make a huge difference in enhancing customer experience.
2. Delayed responses and issue resolution
Customers nowadays expect quick responses and fast resolutions when they contact a company.
When responses are delayed or issues take forever to resolve, it makes them feel neglected and frustrated. It breaks their trust and leads them to your competitors. In a world where convenience is everything, people don’t want to wait for hours or days to receive assistance; they expect prompt and efficient responses.
How to fix it – AI chatbots are a great way to fix this. They can answer simple, direct questions in no time. You can also provide self-service options as part of your support desk, which will help customers get a quick response to their queries and also help in reducing ticket volumes.
3. Non-personalized experiences
Personalization is very important in the customer journey. Customers don’t just want to buy your products or services; they also want to experience that personal touch. It makes them feel seen, heard, and understood.
How to fix it- Businesses should try to understand their customers in a better way to deliver a personalized experience. This can be achieved by simple gestures like addressing them by their name, recalling their past interactions with your business, or showing them products that they might like. This shows your customers that you care about them. When customers feel brands know them, they are more likely to return.
4. Mobile optimization
If your app or website isn’t optimized for mobile, then you are missing out on a lot of customers. Nowadays, customers mostly browse on their mobile devices, and if your app doesn’t work properly on mobile, then there is a high chance that users will leave and avoid your app or website.
How to fix it – To fix mobile optimization problems, ensure that your website or app functions properly on every screen, especially smartphones.
The design or layout of your app should be simple and clean. Don’t clutter your app or website with unnecessary text and loud banner ads. It also helps to keep updating your site or app according to customer feedback.
5. Ignoring customer feedback
When customers give you feedback, whether it’s a complaint, suggestion, or compliment, they are providing you with valuable insights. Ignoring that feedback can ruin your chances of getting better and can also make customers feel unheard.
How to fix it- To fix this issue, brands should actively monitor customer feedback. Acknowledging their feedback, whether negative or positive, helps improve trust and credibility. You can ask for customer feedback through surveys, emails, and review sites and take necessary action on it before small issues turn into big problems.
6. Overwhelming interface
An overwhelming website can be difficult to navigate if there are too many pop-ups, banners, flashing buttons, or large blocks of text. Your customer may get confused or frustrated and leave without taking any action. An unorganized layout not only looks bad but also makes it difficult for users to find what they’re looking for.
How to fix it – To fix an overwhelming interface, keep things simple and straightforward. Minimize too many banners, pop-ups, and flashing buttons that can distract or confuse customers. Structure your content into easy-to-read sections with simple headings so that users can simply navigate to what they need. A clear layout with white spaces makes everything appear more welcoming and less crowded. Also, make sure that buttons and links are properly named and clearly visible.
Final thoughts
Digital customer experience isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the center of how people interact with your brand these days. And sure, it’s easy to miss the small gaps, but they can create huge differences in how customers feel, react, and remain loyal to you.
The good news? Most CX issues aren’t that hard to solve once you notice them. Minor adjustments can lead to significant enhancements in customer satisfaction and loyalty. The secret is to keep listening, keep getting better, and always look at things from the customer’s perspective.
Because ultimately, excellent digital experiences aren’t really about technology; they’re about people. Are you ready to take your CX to the next level? Locobuzz’s CX Automation Platform enables you to scale superior customer experiences with speed, simplicity, and a human touch.
