2024 is poised to be a pivotal year in the world of customer experience (CX). Businesses are moving beyond the mere appearance of connected customer journeys to create intentionally coordinated experiences across various channels, focusing on connecting customer journeys to enhance personalization and customer loyalty. This shift is aimed at providing more cohesive and satisfying customer experiences.
Let’s take a look at this transformation: what it means, why it’s important, and changes you can implement now to set your organization up for CX success.
What is a Connected Customer Journey?
A connected customer journey refers to the seamless and cohesive experience a customer has when interacting with a brand across multiple touchpoints and channels. It encompasses every stage of the customer lifecycle, from awareness and consideration to purchase and post-purchase phases. In a connected customer journey, each interaction is designed to provide a consistent and personalized experience, meeting customer expectations and building customer loyalty. This approach ensures that customers feel valued and understood at every step of their journey, fostering deeper connections and long-term relationships with the brand.
Let's get phygital
One of the most significant aspects of this evolution is the integration of in-store and online experiences, creating seamless transitions across various customer touch points. Customers can now expect a fluid transition between these traditionally distinct spaces. It’s not digital versus physical — it’s one, unified, phygital experience. For instance, the once-clear line between “order online, pick up in-store” and “connect with a local store expert online” is becoming increasingly blurred. This seamless integration is not just a convenience but a necessity, with 62% of customers expecting effortless transitions between digital and physical interactions.
Real-world example: Apple's “Shop with a Specialist” experience
Apple, a leader in CX, has introduced the “Shop with a Specialist” video experience in their Apple Shop. This initiative exemplifies the new wave of customer interactions, where customers can remotely connect with retail team members, explore products, and receive assistance on complex topics. Such innovations are setting the standard for other businesses to follow. Customers may choose to finish their shopping experience in-store, or they may prefer to stay online. But in this phygital world, it doesn’t matter. It should all be seen as one experience, not distinct channels.
The financial incentive: a 700% ROI
Investing in a customer-first approach is not just beneficial for the customer; it’s also financially rewarding for businesses. Marketing leaders play a crucial role in driving these customer-first strategies, ensuring that businesses can achieve significant financial returns. According to Forrester, a customer-first operation can yield up to a 700% return on investment over 12 years. This statistic underscores the long-term value of focusing on customer experience.
Key characteristics of connected customer journeys
Connected customer journeys have several key characteristics that set them apart from traditional customer experiences:
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Seamless integration: Connected customer journeys integrate multiple channels and touchpoints, providing a cohesive experience across the customer lifecycle. Whether customers interact online, in-store, or through mobile apps, the experience feels unified and fluid.
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Personalization: By leveraging customer data, connected customer journeys offer personalized experiences, tailored offers, and interactions that meet individual customer needs. This level of personalization enhances customer satisfaction and engagement.
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Consistency: Ensuring consistency across all touchpoints and channels is crucial. Connected customer journeys provide a unified brand experience, making sure that customers receive the same level of service and messaging, regardless of where or how they interact with the brand.
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Customer-centricity: At the heart of connected customer journeys is a focus on customer needs and expectations. By putting the customer at the center of every interaction, businesses can create more meaningful and satisfying experiences that drive loyalty and advocacy.
Flexibility across connected customer journeys
The customer's journey is no longer a linear path. Customers might start their journey online and finish in-store or vice versa. This flexibility is crucial as it caters to individual preferences and behaviors. Businesses are recognizing this diversity, with 35% planning to invest more in service across channels, as reported by Zendesk.
Beyond channels, even the phases of the customer's journey are less defined. The distinction between pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase phases is becoming increasingly blurred. This makes it even more essential to erase channel lines and provide consistency and flexibility.
The ultimate goal: supporting the customer
The focus is shifting from driving customers to a particular location (be it in-store or online) to enhancing the customer's experience wherever they are on their journey. This approach emphasizes the importance of a cohesive brand experience at every stage and in every channel.
By integrating experiences across various channels, businesses can build stronger connections with their customers, deepen brand loyalty, and increase overall satisfaction. The year 2024 marks a significant step towards this holistic and consistent vision of customer journeys.
Overcoming challenges to connected customer journeys
Despite the benefits of connected customer journeys, many businesses face challenges in implementing them. These challenges include:
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Data silos: Disparate data systems and silos can make it difficult to integrate customer data and provide a seamless experience. Breaking down these silos is essential for a connected customer journey.
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Channel fragmentation: With multiple channels and touchpoints, creating a cohesive and consistent customer experience can be challenging. Businesses need to ensure that all channels are aligned and integrated.
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Lack of customer insight: Without deep customer insight, businesses may struggle to understand customer needs and expectations. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of customers is crucial for delivering a connected customer journey.
What will this shift require? Embracing technological advances
This shift requires substantial technological investment and won’t happen overnight. Developing a robust marketing strategy is essential to overcoming these challenges and ensuring a seamless customer experience. However, 2024 will see significant strides towards a more holistic and customer-empowered future, signifying a major leap in the world of customer experience.
Measuring the success of customer journeys
Measuring the success of customer journeys is critical to understanding the effectiveness of connected customer journeys. Key metrics to measure include:
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Customer satisfaction: Surveys, feedback, and reviews can provide valuable insights into how well businesses are meeting customer expectations. High levels of customer satisfaction indicate a successful connected customer journey.
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Customer loyalty: Retention rates, repeat business, and customer advocacy are indicators of customer loyalty. Measuring these metrics helps businesses understand the impact of connected customer journeys on long-term customer relationships.
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Revenue growth: Tracking revenue growth and ROI can help businesses assess the financial impact of connected customer journeys. A positive correlation between connected experiences and revenue growth underscores the value of investing in customer experience.
By understanding these metrics, businesses can refine and optimize their connected customer journeys, driving business success and customer loyalty.
How to position yourself for CX success in 2024
The pursuit of truly connecting customer journeys in 2024 is more than a trend; it’s a necessary evolution in the way businesses interact with their customers. By focusing on seamless integration, flexibility, and supporting the customer wherever they are, businesses can create more meaningful and satisfying experiences that not only meet but exceed customer expectations.
Proactively position yourself for success — download our new report to explore the trends that are shaping the present and future of CX.
Download the report: AI, humans, and customer experience: 2024 trends in Guided CX
