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Consumers' Inboxes Filled With Irrelevant Messages
With major economies across the world continuing to feel the bite of inflation and retailers looking to do all they can to keep consumers on side, a major new global study has revealed that brands are continuing to unnecessarily frustrate customers with irrelevant messages and poor personalisation efforts. That's a real shame because there are personalization solutions possiblie in marketing & customer service that are relevant and therefore work!
44% Of Shoppers’ Inboxes Bombarded
The new findings reveal that nearly half (44%) of consumers from across 9 markets are still seeing an excessive number of messages flooding their inboxes as companies attempt to provide a personalized customer experience. As a result, over a third (35%) of consumers believe that companies do not meet their expectations, and the same amount feel they are not understood.
The study, undertaken by CM.com, a global leader in cloud software for conversational commerce, highlights that consumers are frustrated with the lacking personalization approach taken by retailers, with nearly a third citing transparency and trust issues when it comes to how brands use their data. Similarly, nearly one in three (32%) highlight that brands fail to communicate with them on their preferred channels, eroding trust and loyalty.
Still, despite current shortfalls when it comes to how brands are communicating with their customers, nearly two thirds of consumers still believe personalization efforts are very important in establishing a rapport with a brand.
Sander Harryvan, Marketing Manager at CM.com comments: “It’s remarkable to see that consumers from across the world have a united experience when it comes to personalization. Unfortunately for brands, that shared experience is not a positive one. At a time when economic pressures are squeezing consumer spending power, and in turn, the sales and revenues generated by brands, personalization efforts are make or break. They can be the difference between establishing a strong relationship with a customer, cementing loyalty and driving repeat sales, or alienating a new customer and losing them for life.
Data Is Cheap, Insights Are Gold
Clearly, our study shows consumers are not convinced that the quid pro quo of data sharing for an enhanced experience is a worthwhile trade, and they are voicing those frustrations loud and clear. This doesn’t mean that personalization is a failure, but more that the current approaches being taken by some brands aren’t aligned with consumer expectations. The lesson that must be learned by brands is that data is cheap, but insights are gold. There are countless opportunities for brands to demonstrate the positive impact that good personalization can have on the overall service, but this should stem from insights driven tools. Chatbots, empowered by integrations with artificial intelligence, can improve the efficiency of the experience for the end user, which in turn can help to drive loyalty. Such tools can also be used to support human customers service agents, ensuring information a brand has about a customer is accurate, up to date and a tailored service can be provided. Only from here can the information each customer shares with a brand be used to curate each customer journey and foster a more personal and rewarding relationship.”
About the Research
This research was conducted by CM.com in cooperation with the independent research agency CANDID. The online survey was carried out in May 2023, where, 9964 respondents answered questions about personalization. They were surveyed about expectations and their experiences with companies in retail and eCommerce. All respondents were aged 18 years or older.
To represent different regions of the world, we surveyed 9964 respondents, approximately 1000 in each of the nine countries, including the United States of America, France, The United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, China, India, The United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
