While many Australian brands have improved their digital performance over the last year, a significant gap remains between what many brands deliver and what Australian consumers expect – and the price of a disappointing digital experience is higher, according to SAP Australia’s 2016 Australian Digital Experience report.
The report found that the proportion of consumers unsatisfied with their digital experiences dropped from 47 per cent in 2015 to 40 per cent this year, while delighted consumers increased from 22 per cent to 26 per cent.
The study showed that delighted consumers are now nearly five times more likely to remain loyal to a brand than those who are unsatisfied, up from a multiple of just over four in 2015. There was also a higher correlation between lacklustre experiences and loss of loyalty and advocacy than in 2015, with only 16 per cent of customers who were unsatisfied with the digital experience remaining loyal.
Among the top performing brands were Coles, in the grocery retail sector, Target in consumer goods retail, iiNet amongst telecommunications and ISP providers, Synergy in the utilities sector, Suncorp in insurance, and Netflix in the media and entertainment sector.
Digital experience scores by industry. Source: Australian Digital Experience Report 2016.
Media and entertainment, a new industry sector added in this year’s survey, was the top-performing industry on customer satisfaction with digital, while retail groceries placed second, making gains of four percentage points on its digital experience score from 2015.
In a repeat of the 2015 rankings, the two industries with the lowest digital experience scores this year were telecommunications and utilities – even though utilities made the largest improvement of any industry, increasing its score by 11 per cent. Banking, consumer goods retail and insurance made improvements of between eight and nine per cent.
The research also showed a stronger correlation between digital experience and business outcomes, through Australians’ data privacy and personalisation preferences. Delighted customers are more than five times more likely to disclose personal information, such as their buying preferences, health records, web browsing history, and personal finances.
SAP also added a new attribute rated by consumers as part of the overall digital experience, ‘safe and secure’, which rocketed to the top of the list as by far the most important components of a delightful digital experience, named by 68 per cent of respondents. This was followed by ‘cohesive, integrated and simple’ (38 per cent), and ‘available anytime on my terms’ (36 per cent).
“The good news is things are getting better for Australian consumers, and more brands are delivering the digital experience basics,” said John Ruthven, president and managing director, SAP Australia and New Zealand. “Yet the year-on-year comparisons show there is still much to do to deliver the digital experiences that truly delight consumers.
“Digital transformation means different things to different people, but the motivation behind it is always the same: the customer. Every time customers gain more power, organisations need more power to keep up with their demands. Brands that perform best are those who unite their people and processes on a single system to deliver on their customers’ relentlessly increasing demands.”
To download The Australian Digital Experience Report 2016, visit www.sap.com/Australia/ausdxr.
