With their backs to the wall economically, U.S. consumers have no problem turning away from large retail brands at a moment’s notice.
That’s the takeaway from a new study by Propel Software entitled “Consumers Want Enhanced Experiences”. The study, which canvassed 2,000 U.S. adults over their consumer brand experiences, found that 54% of shoppers “would stop using a brand after just one bad experience.”
The study also found that:
24% of consumers will break up with a brand over inconsistent or obsolete online product information.
58% of consumers have recently switched from a brand they love to its competitor.
47% want enhanced product experiences like online communities or how-to videos.
66% of consumers expect their brands to engage with them after the initial sale.
The items people were most willing to switch brands on include smartphones (37%), TVs and kitchen appliances (36%), and cars (35%).
“Our results show an increasing need for more brands to understand the customer experience isn't limited to the point of purchase,” said Ray Hein, CEO of Propel Software. “Two-thirds of consumers now expect brands to engage with them well after the sale, anticipate their needs, and rectify bad experiences quickly. Companies that get this right are on the fast track to gain and retain more customers than their slower competitors.”
Not Meeting High Consumer Expectations
The challenge for retailers and manufacturers is that consumers today have high expectations of retail brands, shaped heavily by their digital experiences everywhere else.
“They don’t have to think about the show they’ll watch next, because Netflix (NFLX) offers hand-picked suggestions, and they don’t have to create new playlists because Spotify (SPOT) has already curated them,” said Sarah Cascone, vice president of marketing at Bluecore, in New York, N.Y.
What’s worse for large corporate brands is that a single bad shopping experience doesn’t necessarily mean something went wrong, like an order was incorrect or products were damaged. “These days, a shopper can choose to not purchase from a brand again because it didn’t offer the highly-curated shopping experience that they’re used to,” Cascone said.
One reason why consumers have such high expectations for their shopping experiences is that they share so much data with retailers.
“Netflix, for example, will suggest shows and movies for individuals based on not only what they’ve watched in the past and what similar subscribers are watching, but what device an individual watches on and how long they typically watch for,” Cascone told TheStreet. “If brands can’t curate the same type of experiences for shoppers based on what they know about them, it’s likely they’ll move on to a brand that can.”
Chalk It Up to Recency Bias?
Some consumer behavioral experts say that while customer experiences do matter, it’s when those experiences occur that really shape the consumer's impression.
“While there has definitely been an increase in shoppers migrating away from beloved brands due to negative experience, I do question the 54% statistic,” said Iliya Rybchin,
Partner at New York City-based Elixirr Consulting. “In my experience, the data on negative consumer experiences tends to be influenced by cognitive bias - more specifically recency bias.”
A case in point: When researchers ask why someone switched brands, consumers often recall the most recent bad experience, when in reality, the decision to switch could be a combination of multiple bad experiences or other factors.
“Since loyalty is such a complex, emotionally-driven, (and sometimes irrational) concept, conclusively connecting one bad experience to a loyalty switch is often misleading,” Rybchin told TheStreet.
Herd mentality can also influence consumer attitudes on brand experiences, often not in a positive way.
“We now live in a world where one's personal experience with a brand is no longer so personal,” Rybchin noted. “Consumers can quickly see that others have had similar experiences and this amplifies the magnitude of the "bad taste in the mouth".
There was a time when having a bad experience at a hotel chain was unpleasant but you might overlook it because you had many good experiences, Rybchin said.
“Now, with two clicks you can see that hundreds of others have also had bad experiences and your personal experience is no longer an isolated case and starts to feel like a systemic problem with the brand,” he added. “It doesn't help that thousands may have had great experiences - a consumer’s mind always focuses on the negatives.”
How Brands Can Win the Consumer Experience
What can companies do when consumers walk away from their product or service?
Consumer branding experts say the answer is in the data.
“If they haven’t done so already, brands and retailers should audit the experiences their customers are having across all the channels where their products are marketed and sold,” said Kristin Naragon, vice president of global marketing at Akeneo, a business growth strategies company in Boston, Mass. “If the experiences consumers have with their products aren’t consistent, complete, and compelling now, then they need to get their core product information in order and ready immediately.”
Additionally, as consumers become more selective about the products they can and do buy, it becomes more critical for brands and merchants to double down on giving the consumers all the details about their products.
“That’s not just a product’s standard specifications,” Naragon said. “Companies should consider enriching those product descriptions with brand voice and values, background on sustainability and ethical sourcing, the environmental impact of the products, and user-generated content from customers and influencers.”
When brands are able to enrich the product information in this fashion, they can provide consumers with a comprehensive view of how products are created and how they will perform in the real world.
“This way the consumer is not only confident in spending their hard-earned income with that brand or merchant, but is less likely to return the product, and more likely to come back to buy again,” Naragon said.
