Customer Experience Archives

Understanding Changing Customer Needs Through Analytics

Analytics, Customer Analytics, Big Data, Business Intelligence like Microsoft Power BI training – we come across these terms often, don’t we? Well, all of them are synonyms of each other (you might already know this).

Analytics – as the name suggests – are tools that convey the ‘feelings’ of a customer (prospective or existing) to business owner(s) and act as a mentor while they make strategic decisions.

Now, customer behaviour could be literally anything – likes, dislikes, brand awareness, affinity for a specific product, and what not! Let me give you my own example. Recently, I was looking for a flight to my hometown. And I have the habit of checking out the offers first, then the fares. Unfortunately, there were none. So, I closed the site. And guess what! Within 5 minutes I got an offer of flat 20% OFF on airfare, from the same site.

This was a simple one; there are detailed case-studies available too.

The point is that small and big marketers alike take customer loyalty very seriously and go out of their way to cash in on it. Furthermore, retail analytics has picked up the pace and will prove to be a game-changer for the retail sector in the near future.

In the recent years, it has become quite clear that all successful marketing strategies aim to please the customers. Their voices are the ones that shape the market, establish brands, and directly influence sales, so it seems logical that marketing efforts should work towards improving their experience.

So, what does a CX-focused plan consist of? How do you ensure optimal customer experience through marketing? Why is CX actually the future of digital marketing? Those are all questions we will try to answer in this article. Let’s get going.

Customer Experience

As far as ubiquitous household names go, there’s no denying that Amazon and Starbucks rank near the top of the list.

I mean, the number of active individual Amazon accounts is almost equal to the population of the United States. Small wonder, then, that the ecommerce giant is expected to hold a whopping 50% of the market share for the online shopping industry by 2021.

As for Starbucks, the coffee giant currently holds almost 40% of the market share for US coffee chains. And, as you’re probably well aware, you pretty much can’t go anywhere without being within walking distance of a Starbucks storefront or kiosk.

(Case in point, I’m writing this from a Starbucks right now…and there are two others within half a mile of my current location.)

But the point of this article isn’t to drone on about how successful Amazon and Starbucks are as companies; you already know this.

What we’re going to discuss is why and how the two colossi of their respective industries have come to be so dominant.

Here’s a hint:

It all comes down to the incredible customer experience both companies provide.

Understanding Changing Customer Needs Through Analytics

Why Customer Experience (CX) is the Future of Digital Marketing

Customer Experience Lessons to Learn from Amazon and Starbucks