The digital customer experience

With the unprecedented advance of the digital world, more and more customer experiences are taking place via online channels. While the umbrella term ‘customer experience’ (CX) encompasses everything from traditional customer service channels to new digital interfaces, the digital customer experience (DCX or DX) focuses on the latter.

It covers the total number of online interactions – i.e. through virtual touchpoints such as a website, bot, app, or social media – between a customer and a company, organisation, or brand, and the impression that the customer is left with.

Omnichannel

Even though most organisations see the different contact channels as separate entities, this is completely irrelevant to the customer. That is why it is important for the digital customer experience to be an integral part of the omnichannel strategy. Customers do not separate their experiences into 'digital' and 'non-digital'. They simply expect that the desired contact channel is available at the right time, that the message is clear across all channels, and that the conversation can be resumed at any time.

The following 6 aspects are important for an optimal digital customer experience:

• Ease of use – information must be available quickly and easily
• Accessibility – the desired channels must be consistently available
• Flexibility – the customer must be able to switch seamlessly between different channels
• Support – when necessary , ‘live’ support must be easily and quickly accessible
• Ease of purchase – the customer demands a seamless and secure transaction process
• Personalisation – customised context based on customer data

Personal approach

The latter in particular often poses a challenge for companies. Although consumers are now used to sharing their data for the use of digital interaction channels, they expect a personal approach in return. Unfortunately, this is still missing in many cases, because companies are insufficiently able to use the enormous amounts of data they collect in a structured way for an optimal customer experience.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for data analysis and to proactively respond to customer intentions and needs can make a huge difference. It enables the personal approach that customers demand, and is therefore indispensable for a digital customer experience that puts your company or brand on the map.