Customer Experience – what is it, and how can it be improved?
What is customer experience, and why is it worth caring for? How can you improve a customer’s experience with unsatisfactory contact with your brand? What do technological changes and digital transformation have to do with all this? Learn CX and how to manage it to improve your company’s performance.
What is Customer Experience?
Customer Experience (CX) is a collection of customer interactions with a brand. CX is measured from the first contact through purchase to after-sales service, not only from the purchasing process itself. It’s not only what the customer thinks about the brand but also what they feel, even if subconsciously.
What is customer experience in this context? CX considers both functional aspects, such as the product’s ease of use or the quality of customer service, and emotional aspects, such as a sense of satisfaction, trust or loyalty to the brand.
Why is CX important, and how can you improve the customer experience?
The answer to the question about the importance of CX is quite simple: satisfied customers are more likely to return, make more purchases and recommend the brand to others.
Positive customer experience translates into increased loyalty, sales, improved brand image, and reduced costs for handling complaints and returns. Add to that the age of social media, where customer feedback spreads like wildfire: as you can see, taking care of CX becomes more important.
At Exorigo-Upos, we know that CX is the basis today – and we offer solutions that allow you to improve it. We provide e-commerce solutions that actively support enterprises in digital transformation processes and implementing omnichannel strategies. We know how difficult it is to achieve high customer satisfaction in the modern world, which is why we meet the needs of companies operating in the retail industry, focusing on solid solutions and driving the success of our customers. We are an official partner of Adobe (owner of the Magento platform) and Akeneo (provider of the PIM solution). |
How to improve CX – customer experience?
First, you need to get to know your customers – their needs, expectations, and preferences; understand what problems they want to solve and what emotions they want to experience.
To start: strategy
As a next step, we suggest defining a CX strategy (consistent with your goals and primary marketing strategy!), which will determine the goals you want to achieve and the metrics that will allow us to measure progress—we are talking about basic KPIs. But it can also be the results of after-sales surveys, an in-app evaluation, an abandoned cart rate in an e-commerce store, and many more.
Customer Journey Map
The next step is to map the customer journey, which involves analysing all the touchpoints between the customer and the brand and identifying areas for improvement. This is important because to improve CX, you must learn how to personalise the experience by tailoring your communication and offering to your customer’s needs and preferences. Regular feedback from customers will allow you to monitor their satisfaction on an ongoing basis and make necessary changes.
See also practical UX solutions in e-commerce – UX and CX have much in common!
Take care of your employees.
When it comes to the relationship between employees and Customer Experience, we can multiply examples: customers very often evaluate a brand through the prism of people who have come their way (be it a saleswoman, someone from the hotline, or a complaint office). Satisfied and engaged employees are more likely to provide a positive customer experience.
Minimise chaos – streamline processes.
To make the customer experience as positive as possible, you should ensure that everything works consistently: your PIM system works with your ERP software, and your employees understand what products you offer and can help customers. Sometimes, larger changes are necessary, such as remodelling retail outlets or implementing technological innovations to improve CX.
How can the customer experience be improved? Let’s recap
Taking care of Customer Experience is not just a fad but a necessity for companies that want to succeed in the era of customer-centric sales (so-called customer-centricity). It’s an investment that pays off for both your customers and your business: by taking care of CX, you build lasting relationships with your customers, increase their trust, and thus invest in the long-term success of your business.
This is for customers who save time and salespeople who can increase their efficiency and profits.
If you’re a store owner, consider investing in smart shelves. They could help you succeed and stand out from the competition in the era of digital retail transformation.