For brands seeking to make a mark in the highly competitive Indian market, it is not enough to be efficient but also seen offering personal services.
According to the recently released Adobe Experience Index, Indian consumers were the most likely among those surveyed to expect personal service from the brands they interact with, whether in-store or online. The global index surveyed 1,000 Indian consumers aged 18 or older who owned a qualifying device.
According to the study, over 82 per cent of Indian consumers needed tailored personal services in order to keep them satisfied, even though a vast majority (79 per cent) of people are happy to have automated experiences if they are done well. However, the bias toward human interaction is strong, with two of three Indian consumers preferring human interaction over interacting with computers is interesting. Not surprisingly, the younger population is more open to interacting with well-executed computerised interactions, with 84 per cent open to this option among consumers aged 25- 34 years.
Sunder Madakshira, Head, Marketing, Adobe India said, “In the past few years, India has seen competition across brand categories intensify, with businesses giving their consumers more choices than ever before. Therefore, Indians having the highest expectations across the world when it comes to personalised customer experiences do not come as a surprise. I believe we are at a crossroad, where managing customer experiences has become business critical.”
Customer respect and personalisation are important criteria for the younger demographic too. According to the survey, if these expectations are not met, it could impact businesses’ bottom line, with one in four consumers abandoning their cart as a result of having challenging user experience and customer care. Bad customer experience also leads to turning consumers away from a brand, with one in three consumers within the age group of 35+ saying that they will stop purchasing from the company altogether owing to a bad experience and are more likely to complain directly to the company. The top three experience breakers are hidden fees after purchase (50), no cancellation policies for travel packages (49), and different returns policies (45).
Younger users more open
The survey has found that younger customers are more open to interactions with bots and other computerised interactions than their older peers.