Australia and New Zealand are lagging behind their global peers when it comes to customer experience, a new study from Adobe has found.
The Digital Trends 2020 report surveyed 13,000 marketing, advertising, ecommerce, creative and IT professionals from across the globe.
The research again emphasises the importance of customer experience (CX) for brands and agencies looking to differentiate themselves from their competition.
“The proven success of customer experience-led businesses makes an essential case for a customer-centric approach, said Adobe Asia Pacific head of digital transformation Scott Rigby.
“However, the move to a customer-first model involves more than implementing a single initiative or piece of technology. It’s about looking at the bigger picture and shifting business strategy, investment and culture, supported by the right tools and processes. It requires investment, but the rewards are there for those that make the shift.”
Despite the fact the business case for a customer-centric approach has now been established, local businesses are still struggling to keep up with the global market, the report found.
Only seven per cent of APAC organisations consider themselves mature in delivering CX, compared to 11 per cent globally.
This is more pronounced in Australia and New Zealand, with just three per cent of companies labelling themselves as mature.
“APAC businesses are looking to bring their CX maturity in line with global counterparts to develop effective strategies to deliver better experiences,” said Rigby.
“In turn, this empowers businesses to differentiate against competitors. However, APAC’s proclaimed lag leaves the region playing catch up on building, as well as delivering, digital marketing strategies that focus on customer experiences. But marketers in APAC are actively planning investment to close this gap.”
opportunities beckon
But the positioning of Australia and New Zealand behind the rest of the world means local businesses will effectively be playing catch up.
This will translate into a sizeable investment into CX technologies in 2020, according to Adobe.
More than half (57 per cent) of APAC businesses plan on investing more into CX-enabling technologies, compared to 51 per cent in EMEA and 41 per cent in North America.
Additionally, professionals with skills across digital, data and CX-related areas are set to be a hot commodity in 2020 and beyond.
Two in five (40 per cent) of CX leaders said attracting and retaining talent in CX was their most significant concern, while 26 per cent acknowledged finding and keeping the right people with the right skills is a barrier to creating successful digital experiences.
“Obtaining and developing great talent is a huge challenge for marketers and requires businesses to add and improve skills on an ongoing basis. This challenge also brings opportunity. Investing in people, technology and processes are all key ingredients for effective customer experience. Supporting talent early on will help businesses benefit in the long-run,” Rigby said.
