New customer service in 2030
By 2030, companies will likely have to handle a larger number of customer interactions with smart machines. That means that accusations will possibly target companies for the loss of empathy on providing customer service. New technology has changed the way companies interact with customers over time. More products and services, as well as more types of consumers, have emerged along with changes in customer behavior. In general, consumers are always changing too. Which means that the market is constantly evolving.
How will companies evolve to meet the expectations of their future customers?
These are some of the questions posed in “Experience 2030: The Future of Customer Experience.” Futurum Research conducts this forum on behalf of SAS, the leader in analytics. The research shows that it is technology that will transform the customer experience. Companies need to redefine their processes in this area to keep up with modern consumers and evolve their service technologies.
Flexibility and the full potential of technology are the next big trend for customer experience. Businesses will have to rethink their approaches to keep up with these changes. To keep their customers happy and able to adapt with the newest methods, companies will require more of it. Customers lead the service experience.
Automation and AI machines
The companies surveyed project that by 2030, there will be a very big shift towards full automation of the consumer service experience. In the future, AI machines will take over, handling about 2/3 of the consumer experience. They’re also used for making decisions around marketing and promotions and processing real-time decisions.
In 2030, smart AI machines will handle 67% of the consumer experience between a company and consumers. This is significantly higher than the 14% of today. Predictions indicate that by 2030, 69% of consumer-determined decisions will be made entirely by smart machines.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the next decade will see rapid growth in the relationship between humans and machines,” said Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. “Companies will need to find the perfect balance between delivering a human-centric, empathetic experience with the immediate results that consumers have become accustomed to in recent years. Technology will be the bridge to a more human experience. Data, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence make machines operate in a more human way. They will, thus, serve consumers and bring higher efficiency to businesses.”
Consumers adopt new technologies
The survey also showed that 78% of companies believe that consumers are struggling to keep up with modern technology. However, the survey showed that only 35% of consumers expressed this difficulty. The gap between the views of companies and consumers can be a barrier to business growth if the issue is not handled with care.
In fact, the survey results show that consumers expect further use of new technologies by 2030 as well:
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80% said they expect home deliveries via drone or other autonomous vehicle.
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81% said they expect interaction with chatbots.
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78% expect to use augmented, virtual or mixed reality apps to see what a product will look like – as well as what a particular garment will look like to the shopper or a piece of furniture in the home.
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56% expect to ‘visit’ other locations or experience holidays and attend entertainment events via mixed reality devices by 2025.
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8 in 10 expect to use smart assistants (such as Google Home, Amazon, Alexa, etc.) to make a purchase or monitor their smart home.
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78% said they expect to control other devices via wearables.
For companies, this level of consumer acceptance and expectations opens up new opportunities to expand interaction. But, for both sides’ high expectations to find common ground, companies need new capabilities that close the gap between technology and marketing.
“Tracking the consumer service ‘journey’ requires a comprehensive understanding of the customer within this never-ending buying process – consumers want to be remembered and understood as they go back and forth across countless channels, touchpoints and various environments,” said Wilson Raj, Global Director, SAS Customer Intelligence. “Companies need to redesign their operating model to be responsive. They need a holistic data strategy that they can personalize at scale. Also need are analytics capabilities that they can adapt in real time and enable the cycle of personalized experiences.”
Emerging technologies will determine corporate success in the next decade
The future of service will be largely shaped by the evolution of technology. The survey also asked companies what “futuristic” technologies they are currently investing in to lead new service experiences and increase consumer satisfaction by 2030.
“The new shopper is leveraging emerging technologies. He is putting tremendous pressure on the technology needs of companies’ marketing departments,” said Wilson Raj. “For most CMOs, these forces create a ‘moving target’ problem: It’s hard to stay ahead of something that is constantly evolving. This is problematic because consumers expect uninterrupted access, customer service and interaction with the company, always on their terms.”
The survey shows that 62% of companies are investing in AI voice assistants to improve their service strategies, but also as a trump card for their customers. Furthermore, 58% are investing in voice assistant solutions as an internal element of marketing and sales.
On augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), 54% of companies are investing in them to help consumers visualise the appearance or use of a product or service. In addition, 53% of companies are looking at AR/VR tools to improve product usage and self-help.
The survey also found that 83% of companies are investing or plan to invest in holographic technologies for in-store advertising, interactive games and events.
All of these emerging and sophisticated technologies suggest that companies need to rethink the effectiveness of data management, analytical improvement processes and automated decision capabilities. They should be able to use all these new technologies to achieve concrete and tangible results. These new applications will be able to receive, process, plan and decide how to deliver multi-moment marketing. This sector will continue to have great appeal in the future.
Elements that will shape trust in 2030
Today 58% of companies consider high quality to be the factor that shapes consumer trust. Most consumers, though, report that low prices or discounts are what ultimately win them over. But by 2030, consumers report that apps, fast access and the ability to order through smart home systems are the top 3 technologies they expect to influence their trust.
Companies agree and believe that artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics will play a key role in the future. By 2030 they see an opportunity to leverage technology to both deliver smoother interactions, provide the necessary insights and offer deeper, more meaningful customer service relationships, as well as increase consumer trust.
Daniel Newman adds: “Building trust is particularly critical to the growth of any company. Over the next 10 years we will see an increase in differentiation. It will extend beyond the traditional mix of price, quality and service that has dominated for too long. In the future, the way businesses adopt technologies, drive the market (and the consumer) and measure social impact will play a more important role in establishing consumer trust. We are already seeing this happening and in 2030 its importance will multiply.”
The evolving importance of trust
Perhaps the biggest challenge for businesses today is the ability to bridge the trust gap with consumers, as the latter are often wary of the way companies handle their personal data and feel powerless to change it. Just 54% of consumers believe that companies keep their personal data private. In fact, 73% of them believe that the use of their personal data is “out of control”. This presents a challenge for companies as they try to balance the service they can provide, leveraging the rich data they collect from users, with consumer concerns about the trust they can place in companies.
But the survey shows that companies do understand the risk they face. 59% of respondents state that the security of consumer data is the most important factor in ensuring a good level of customer service. However, are companies ready? The survey also reveals some challenges, as 84% of companies are concerned about the changes governments are pushing through in privacy regulations and their readiness to respond to them.
“Consumers continue to use technologies that open up their lives to others. They now have, though, dual expectations of businesses. Firstly, they want to understand them as individuals and to protect their privacy. Therein lies the opportunity to strike a balance when creating consumer experiences,” Wilson Raj added.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
