| |August 20199From retailers to real estate, business and government agencies alike must understand that digital is not just a channel, but an experience and a key strategic component for Customer Experience (CX). Digital devices have made consumers more on the go. Consumers expect a frictionless, consistent and user-friendly digital interaction with businesses. Businesses that have not incorporated frictionless user experience into their digital strategy are potentially being left behind. If the em-powered consumer is the driver­shopping and browsing promiscuously for the best deals and services­then digital is the vehicle that gives them the ability to go where they want. Businesses cannot afford to treat digital as some an-cillary channel that might add something relevant to the consumer experience. Sophisticated businesses know why customer experi-ence is important, with 76 percent of executives in 2015 citing it is a high or critical priority. But fast forward to 2017 and Forrester's Data Customer Experience survey finds CX is not great nor has it improved. Here's the reason why: Customer experience without a closed-loop digital process cannot deliver the desired results for today's hyper-connected world where most transactions take place via mobile devices. Successful businesses have generally integrated digital with their customer experience strategy, while others lag far behind, foregoing business growth and customer loy-alty. The consumers have spoken and their loyalty has an expiration date, giving businesses only a short period of time to play catch up before they move on without them. To the earlier scenario with Chris, in a perfect world, he would have known via his mobile shopping experience if the bracelet was in stock in a physical location; and the store would not ask him to step aside to call some toll free number that placed him on hold. He could have been eas-ily approved for a credit limit increase at the counter in a matter of seconds, and he would have his girlfriend's bracelet and they would live happily ever after...use your imagination.Businesses must devise a customer experience strategy that employs unique and differentiated data sources, flexible and innovative technology and expertise in identity resolu-tion, credit and fraud risk and consumer experience--offer solutions for businesses that drive better digital experiences for their consumers. This will help consumers more easily and efficiently interact with a mobile application or web-site to complete transactions. For instance, digital authen-tication elements can simplify and streamline experiences for customers for a more enhanced and engaging "mobile meets brand" experience.Businesses can help reduce cart abandonment and frus-tration, increase cart size, better target credit-eligible con-sumers and increase the number of applications likely to be approved, enable faster checkout and payment processes, and help reduce key entry errors by creating a better digital experience for consumers. Businesses can deliver an experi-ence that is immediate to a captive audience, whenever and wherever they are.At this very moment, businesses (your competitors) are probably thinking up ways to go even further into the future with customer experience solutions. For instance, a large retail bank that partners with a gas company for a gas card has already developed an app that allows custom-ers to apply for a card and immediately pay at the pump. They simplified the process by authenticating consumers and prefilling their credit applications within the app. The consumer can apply, be approved, pump their gas, receive a discount and be on their way, allowing the company to capitalize on a captive consumer audience, acquire new cus-tomers and streamline the entire process.By the time all businesses are fully up to speed on the latest digital technologies, think of where the consumer-centric organizations will be at that time. From retailers to real estate, business and government agencies alike must understand that digital is not just a channel, but an experience and a key strategic component for Customer Experience
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