Oracle recently released a global survey that found that businesses estimated that they will increase spending on customer experience technology by 18 percent in the next two years, and improving the cross-channel experience and customer analytics are top priorities.
The report, "Global Insights on Succeeding in the Customer Experience Era," surveyed 1,342 senior-level executives from 18 countries in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Among the survey's findings:
- Ninety-seven percent of executives agree that delivering a great customer experience is critical to business advantage and results, and respondents estimate that the average potential revenue loss for not offering a positive, consistent and brand-relevant customer experience is 20 percent of annual revenue.
- Ninety-three percent of executives say that improving the customer experience is one of their organization's top three priorities in the next two years, and 91 percent wish to be considered a customer experience leader in their industry. However, many organizations are stuck in an execution chasm; 37 percent are just getting started with a formal customer experience initiative, and only 20 percent consider the state of their customer experience initiative to be advanced.
- The study revealed that business executives underestimate the impact of customer experience on behavior. Forty-nine percent of executives surveyed indicated that customers will switch brands due to a poor customer experience, but a full 89 percent of customers said that they actually have switched brands due to a bad customer experience.
- Social media amplifies the customer voice, and businesses are scrambling to answer. Eighty-one percent of executives believe that delivering a great customer experience today requires leveraging social media effectively. But, 35 percent do not have social media for sales channels, and 35% do not have social media for customer service.
- On average, businesses estimate that they will increase spending on customer experience technology by 18 percent in the next two years. Improving the cross-channel experience and customer analytics are top priorities.