How Technology is Shaping the Future of Customer Experience
Pro Tip: In 2023, it’s going to be more necessary than ever for retailers to use technology to their advantage to level up the shopping experience for consumers. Personalization via technology could be key in the personal care and grocery spaces, if retailers could use technology to create a wellness plan for consumers or recipe options based on a shopping list.
Retailers have caught on to the fact that providing a high-quality consumer experience is critical to maintaining a competitive edge.
In fact, according to research from Metrigy, customer experience (CX) is the No. 1 priority for retailers that are planning on increasing their technology spending in 2023. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide now have a dedicated CX leader.
Research from PWC shows that 73% of consumers say CX is an important factor in their buying decisions, and 42% of people surveyed say they would pay more for a welcoming, friendly experience with a brand.
Providing a positive customer experience also pays off financially for companies, because it leads to higher customer retention, more referrals and increased lifetime customer value.
As a futurist, it’s my job to predict the biggest trends — and in 2023, consumer experience is on everyone’s minds. Let’s take a look at how technology will be shaping the consumer experience in the next 12 months, and what we can expect to see from some of our favorite retail brands.
Personalization
We all love products, goods and services that are unique and personalized just for us.
According to Deloitte research, we’re willing to pay a 20% premium for customized products. Consumers also want to be involved in the process of designing and creating their own personalized items.
To meet this demand and provide better consumer experiences, companies are now using technology to create mass personalization at scale.
As part of this trend, skincare and cosmetics company Clinique now offers custom-blended skin creams and moisturizers that can be tailored to a customer’s unique skin type and texture. Adidas and Nike both launched personalized sneakers that can be customized by consumers.
In 2023, more brands will jump on the personalization trend by using technology, like 3D printing, to create highly customized products for consumers.
Immersive Experiences
A fully integrated, persistent metaverse may still be a decade away, but retailers are already using metaverse technology to create immersive, innovative experiences that wow customers.
Consumers now want their interactions with brands to be experiential in new ways, which means retail companies need to focus on creating memorable experiences throughout the buying journey. Using metaverse technology, like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), are common ways to do this.
Retail brands like Gucci have staked their virtual real estate claims in the most popular emerging metaverse platforms, including Roblox and The Sandbox. Earlier this year, Gucci became the world’s first luxury brand to build its own world in a metaverse platform when it launched Gucci Vault Land, an experimental space for NFTs and vintage items.
In 2023, we’ll see more retail brands providing immersive in-store and virtual experiences that consumers will share on social media and tell their friends and family about.
Building Trust With Authenticity
Brands know that trust is a big part of building better consumer experiences, so more companies are focusing on providing open answers to key questions during the customer journey. Authenticity means letting a brand’s human qualities shine through to the consumer.
For retail brands, this can be simple, like admitting mistakes and making every effort to put things right for things that go awry during the purchasing process. It also means being honest about how customer data is being used and protected.
Additionally, brands are now speaking openly about how they’re using technology to provide a better customer experience. For example, Netflix has now published information on the artificial intelligence algorithm that powers their recommendation engines.
Conscious Consumerism
Across sectors and industries, more consumers are considering environmental, ecological and political factors when making buying decisions.
As part of the customer experience, retail brands can now offer consumers the chance to make ethical decisions that align with their values.
For instance, consumers can “round up” their cashless purchases to make charitable donations to worthy causes. Pennies, a micro-donation service, has already raised £25 million (more than $30 million) for charities using these small change transactions.
Consumers can also lower emissions by collecting deliveries at drop-off points, which lowers the number of stops trucks need to make to deliver packages.
In 2023, we’ll also see more retail brands making it easy for us to make informed decisions about the items we’re buying. This will include transparency around raw materials, supply chains, labor, packaging and delivery.
Bernard Marr is a futurist, strategic advisor to companies and governments, and award-winning author of the new book “Future Skills: The 20 Skills and Competencies Everyone Needs to Succeed in a Digital World.”