Customer Experience and Technology – A Marriage Made in Heaven

You’ve probably already read our article in this series about how customer experience is going to be one of the major forces in ecommerce moving forwards.

However, what we didn’t cover in that piece was the role technology has to play in that force. Sure, we discussed how to construct a website so that it guides the customer down the sales funnel and removes barriers to making a purchase, but today we’d like to discuss the way technology can create customer experiences which go beyond the baseline.

Customer experience and technology go together like peaches and cream, with people naturally drawn towards brands which can offer tech driven features which make shopping a far simpler and more secure journey.

Customer Experience

There is of course a plethora of these technologies available, and it can sometimes feel like going down a rabbit hole trying to decide which ones are relevant for your sector. A general guiding principle when assessing customer experience technology should be to keep the end user in mind and constantly ask yourself, "How does this technology help my customers, or help my people help my customers!"

We can’t talk about ecommerce customer experience technology without bringing up the advances made in natural language processing software. We’ve all been frustrated when phoning a company and had to try and tell a machine what the issue is, only to be repeatedly misunderstood and misdirected as a result.

However, the latest NLP platforms combine with artificial intelligence to apply digital stratification and analytical techniques to spoken language in real time – leading to a paradigm shift in the way customers interact with ecommerce brands.

This advanced NLP-AI technology can allow customers to say what they want when communicating with an organization and instantly be understood and taken automatically through to the person, department, or chatbot, they need to solve their query.

NLP can also be merged with your company’s information systems and automatically open and fill in records which means, by the time one of your agents answers the phone, much of the admin work has already been completed. Of course, it would still be wise for a pair of human eyes to make sure the algorithm has completed its task correctly as regulatory requirements around the holding a storing of date – especially those relating to the accuracy of that data – could cause problems down the line if not.

Data Security

On the topic of accurate data, one of the most critical applications of technology to customer experience is one which the customer should not even be aware is happening but will help your ecommerce brand stand out as a trusted company it’s safe to do business with.

Data is one of the most valuable resources in the modern world and it seems rarely a day goes by we don’t hear of an organization getting into hot water because it has failed to take its data security responsibilities seriously. Data breaches not only result in legal action and fines for a brand, but also erode the customer experience by opening them up to further criminal activity and destroying their trust in the breached organization.

This means, in 2022, more advanced cybersecurity technology is going to be one of the most powerful tools your ecommerce brand can deploy. With online accounts, stored payment details, and loyalty schemes meaning ecommerce brands are holding vast amounts of personal data on their customers, you are going to need to take steps to ensure that information is adequately protected.

Training tools for your people will also be essential in this arena. While the word "hacker" always conjures images of a Matrix-like character sitting in front of a bank of screens furiously typing out lines of code, the fact is most breaches are carried out via social engineering. Making sure staff can spot these fraudulent communications and shut them down is another essential component of technology-based customer experience.

Final Thoughts

There you have two solid examples of how technology can impact customer experience outside of the core ecommerce journey. Always keep the customer and their needs in mind and select the technology platforms which offer them the most benefit – whether directly or indirectly.

"When you view technology through lens of an individual CX function, you can’t connect the dots throughout the customer’s entire relationship with the company," said SAS Global Director of Customer Intelligence, Wilson Raj. "CX tech investments must be anchored in a continuous closed-loop cycle of four, key CX activities – understanding customers and their experiences, analyzing data collected from those experiences, acting on the insights, and continually managing CX efforts across the brand."

Customer experience and technology are set to be hot topics at eTail Boston 2022, taking place in August at The Sheraton, Boston.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.