SAP released the results of the inaugural SAP Digital Experience Report, which revealed that only half of consumers in Thailand (53%) are delighted with the digital experience offered by brands in the country. 16% of respondents were unsatisfied with their digital experience, while 31% were categorized as ambivalent, giving an overall Digital Experience (DX) score of 37%.
The SAP Digital Experience Report for Thailand surveyed more than 1,500 consumers and aggregated close to 4,000 interactions of digital engagements with local brands. In the survey, the digital experience is defined as how a brand digitally interacts with its customers during the discovery, purchase, delivery and support of a product or service.
Consumers rated brands on their ability to deliver on 14 key attributes of the digital experience, ranging from functional aspects such as security and availability to more emotional aspects such as interactivity and engagement.
Why the Digital Gap Matters
Although there are more consumers in Thailand who are delighted with their online engagements with brands, the survey uncovers a significant gap in performance among industries and individual brands. This gap has significant implications for business outcomes, particularly for metrics around customer loyalty and advocacy.
Consumers delighted with the digital experience were close to eight times more likely to stay with a brand than those who were unsatisfied. Furthermore, those delighted with the digital experience delivered a Net Promoter Score® (NPS) of 74%, compared to an average of -63% from those who were unsatisfied.
The findings also demonstrate that delighted customers are more emotionally connected to brands, which in turn will lead to greater brand affinity. Loyal customers are also more willing to buy more from brands for a longer period of time and will not hesitate to influence others to do the same.
Privacy versus Personalization
The study also uncovered a strong correlation between digital experience performance and consumers' willingness to disclose personal information. On average, delighted consumers were almost five times more likely to provide brands with personal data than those who were unsatisfied.
For example, delighted consumers consistently showed a more trusting relationship with brands, with a higher percentage willing to share their personal finances, health records, educational level and buying preferences.
With personal data a foundation for personalized digital experiences, the survey suggests that brands that delight their customers can have greater access to personal data, enabling them to further improve and tailor the digital experiences they provide.
What's Important to Consumers in Thailand in the Digital Experience
A deeper look into the data revealed that safety and security as well as anytime availability are top priorities for consumers in Thailand, with 47% of consumers rating both these attributes either 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 to 10.
Consumers in Thailand also prefer a fuss-free brand experience, with 46% registering their preference for a digital platform that fits in with their lifestyle and 45% preferring a cohesive, integrated and simple online experience.
Although consumers generally ranked functional attributes as more important, those brands that performed best were also able to connect through the digital experience at an emotional level; for example, by delivering experiences that excite and engage their customers as well as those that are responsive and interactive.
Doing Digital Right
Liher Urbizu Sierra, Managing Director, SAP Thailand said, "As with most of Southeast Asia, Thailand is increasingly becoming a mobile-led society. Of the 38 million internet users in Thailand, 70% accessed the Internet via smartphones , presenting a unique opportunity for brands in the country to engage with their consumers. As consumers in Thailand latch on to the digital lifestyle more and more, the complexity brought on by multiple device usage and digital apps to choose from are causing customers to demand simple, seamless and personalized experiences across any channel, anytime, anywhere, and on any device. As evident from SAP's Digital Experience Report, brands that fail to realize this will see a drop in share of consumers' wallet."
He continued, "Brands can bridge the digital experience gap between them and their consumers by adopting a clear digital strategy that brings together marketing, sales, services, and commerce to ensure seamless digitization of the entire customer experience. SAP solutions for customer engagement and commerce, powered by the SAP HANA platform, facilitates a 360-degree customer view and how brands can better engage them."
Security an important attribute across Southeast Asia
SAP's Digital Experience Report offers detailed insights into customers' digital expectations and the ability of brands to meet them. Carried out across Southeast Asia, the report captures responses from across five countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, the results reflected the preferences of over 3,600 consumers who rated more than 240 brands resulting in 9,375 digital interactions against 14 attributes.
As Southeast Asia consumers increasingly turn to online channels for their needs, safety and security remains a top concern in their digital engagement across the markets with close to 60% rating this as an important attribute of a digital experience. The ability to engage anytime and on their own terms is also rated highly at 49% followed by having a cohesive, integrated and simple experience at 46%.
Across countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, less than half (47%) were delighted with their digital experience, with 20 percent unsatisfied, giving a digital experience score of 27%. Importantly, delighted consumers are over 9 times more likely to remain loyal than those who are unsatisfied and deliver an NPS of 70% compared to -67% from those who are unsatisfied.
Scott Russell, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia said, "In the digital era, consumers are changing the rules, but technology is changing the game. The ability to delight customers with a desirable digital experience is a competitive differentiator. Losing out in consumer digital experience will directly affect a brand's bottom-line and its business value. Our research shows that while nearly half of consumers in Southeast Asia are satisfied with their digital experience, more can be done to enhance a brand's digital experience to create a lasting and sustainable relationship. What brands need for the future would be business software to meet market challenges and evolve new business models, to engage customers in the most digitally delightful way."
Engaging today's digital customer demands a transformation not just at the front end but throughout the organization. SAP's Digital Business Framework helps digitize the entire value chain for businesses with the end-to-end customer experience in mind. To respond quickly to customer needs, business must be able to run simple, and make live decisions aided by 'in the moment' intelligence and insight. A single platform that brings together commerce, marketing, billing, service and sales will ensure seamless digitization of the entire customer experience. It delivers a consistent and relevant experience to customers across every channel and on every device.