How APAC brands are future proofing their CX strategies

The business landscape across Asia-Pacific (APAC) is constantly evolving. This means that a successful approach to customer experience (CX) in the region must not only account for current trends but also look beyond the immediate horizon to ensure the CX strategy is sufficiently future-proofed.

From harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitization, to building customer loyalty and embracing a customer-centric approach, many APAC companies are forging ahead on a path of transformation.

Digitalization

Companies across the APAC region are enhancing their offerings to provide digital-first, personalized experiences that are fit for purpose for the present and beyond.
A prime example is Asia-Pacific hotel chain Mandarin Oriental, whose recent digital revamp included mobile integration, enhanced digital engagement, personalized connections and a website refresh.

The 2023 site relaunch introduced multimedia content, virtual tours, price matching, hyper-personalization and cross-channel communication, while the mobile-first approach resulted in a 91 percent rise in organic traffic, 17 percent more unique visitors, and a 42 percent surge in online booking revenue.

“Our improved user experience allows customers to more seamlessly engage with our website based on their travel intent,” says Peter Norris, VP of digital at Mandarin Oriental. “Our post-implementation analytics are reflecting easier navigation, a lower bounce rate and more page views as a result.”

Artificial intelligence

Any digital CX strategy fit for the future must also consider the latest and ongoing developments in AI. One APAC brand that has successfully integrated AI technology into its CX is Woolworths of Australia.

Serving approximately 14 million online shoppers per week, the grocery chain identified that a significant portion of its customer inquiries related to basic tasks. To address this, the company introduced Olive, a voicebot powered by conversational AI.

Alex Colorado, the engineering manager overseeing conversational AI at Woolworths, explains: “We developed an intelligent search feature capable of recognizing over 30,000 products within a mere three months. Customers can now simply say, 'I didn't receive my oranges in my order,' and Olive seamlessly cross-checks, processes refunds and sends confirmation texts, all without requiring human intervention."

Digital challenges

Despite the importance of digitization for APAC brands, CX Network’s Global State of CX 2023 report highlights some of the challenges involved.

Ayelet Mendel-Girin – CX Network Advisory Board member and group head of CX for Humm Group of Australia – points out that for many brands, early rollouts of voice and chat-based solutions were met with negative feedback due to underdevelopment, resulting in customer frustration and disappointment. “This led to a decline in customer engagement,” she observes.

To build trust in self-service going forward and to ensure technology stays relevant in the future, Mendel-Girin recommends moving away from generic solutions that replicate the information found in website Q&As, and to integrate channels with real-time data instead. This, she explains, will result in true personalization, and also pre-empt customer needs via the delivery of relevant information.

Customer loyalty

It stands to reason that a loyal customer base will put any organization on a firm footing for the foreseeable future. For that reason, building customer loyalty should be a key principle for APAC brands when developing a future-proofed CX strategy.

According to Aneesh Kammath CCXP, one of the leading CX influencers in Asia-Pacific, APAC brands in the retail sector should “make people buy frequently” in order to establish loyalty. “This is the main goal of loyalty in retail,” he says. “For this, they should first identify key drivers behind re-visits and re-purchases. Then these drivers should be aligned with business growth metrics.”

Customer loyalty is also highlighted in the Global State of CX report, with 65 percent of respondents agreeing or agreeing strongly that customers are willing to switch brands if unsatisfied.

According to Michael Dart, executive director, customer, for Australian electricity distribution group Energy Queensland, this means it is critical for APAC brands to ensure they have “stickiness” in terms of what customers think of them.

“That would be the number one call out for me: what is your stickiness, what is the essence of your brand and do your customers trust it?” he says. “I think what we will see over time is that those brands that are trusted and seen as acting in the best interests of their customers are the ones that will continue to deliver those benefits for their organization.”

Customer-centricity

Retail, CX retention and loyalty expert Danny Phillips – another top CX influencers in APAC – believes a customer-centric approach is one of the basics of future-proofing CX. However, while many brands talk the talk, fewer actually walk the walk when it comes to customer-centricity.

“By setting KPIs linked to customer retention, customer value – lifetime or even annual – and satisfaction based on the channel that is responsible for that customer, you will be forced to be more customer-centric,” he advises.

Omnichannel brands need to start thinking about initiatives that help customers shop, rather than help brands sell, Phillips adds.

“Customers are not an optional attribute of a transaction,” he insists. “They are what dictates whether you have a brand or not.”

The more a brand takes ownership of its known customer asset, the more control it has over its own destiny by being the logical choice for customers, says Phillips.

Voice of the customer

Fellow top influencer and serial entrepreneur Jason Bradshaw, meanwhile, recommends moving beyond just measuring customer sentiment towards a brand to also demonstrate how CX programs have led to an increase in transaction value and increased lifetime customer value, as well as repeat sales, recommendations and reduced marketing costs.

Additionally, he urges brands to “stop hiding the customer data” and use it to help drive business decisions, product development, marketing and after-sales activities.

“When an organization embeds the voice of the customer into its decision making, not only will there be better customer outcomes – and in turn better commercial outcomes – but internally you will be creating a coalition of champions advocating for your continued seat at the table.”
And that will bode well for the future.