Understanding customers is key to getting customer experience right

The 2022/2023 Ask Afrika Orange Index winners have been announced, revealing a shift in the interplay between brand, customer experience and emotion.

The index, the most referenced customer experience benchmark in South Africa, shows that customer satisfaction has improved, with strong-performing brands benefiting from a focus on fairness, overall service, emotion, channel satisfaction and reputation. Winning brands build seamless customer-centric channel relevance and have a good understanding of their customers.

“We are moving deeper into a contactless world where physical experiences have digital variants,” explains Sarina de Beer, MD at Ask Afrika. “It’s really about making experiences convenient, fun, meaningful and relevant.”

Interestingly, winning brands were able to provide a consistent performance across channels.

De Beer says challenges around customer experience persist. “The basic transactional dimensions are slipping, with many brands not providing an authentic sense of connection or understanding of their customers. All too often there are inconsistencies around reputation which is something that is likely to be problematic with future generations.”

She adds that customer experiences need to remain human. “The answer is not to automate everything. To succeed in this area, businesses need to make thoughtful decisions about what is best for the customer and most supportive for employees.”

While apps continue to be favoured, customers get frustrated with chatbots, interactive voice responses and SMS.

Convenience has become critical to consumers and constrained budgets means consumers are forced to make purchase decisions based on affordability. They are therefore looking for companies that are honest in their dealings with the consumer, that offer products that meet their needs, and that are reliable. If the correct value proposition is offered, then customers have some tolerance.

The 2022 Ask Afrika Orange Index winners are:

• Toyota — automotive companies
• Discovery Bank — banks category
• Mica — building retail
• Food Lover’s Market — butcheries
• H&M — clothing stores
• McDonald’s Delivery Service - fast food delivered
• Burger King — fast food/takeaways
• Woolworths Food — food retail
• RocoMamas — franchise restaurant
• Doves Group — funeral/burial services
• Woolworths Home — home and décor
• Afrihost Internet — internet service providers
• Browns Jewellery — jewellery and watches
• Tops — liquor stores
• Outsurance Funeral Policy — long-term insurance: funeral
• Discovery Life — long-term insurance: life
• BestMed Medical Aid — medical aid companies
• MTN Mobile — mobile operators
• Superbalist — online shopping
• Sasol Convenience Store — petrol stations forecourt
• Clicks Pharmacy — pharmacies
• Sportscene Shoes — shoes
• Auto & General — short-term insurance
• adidas — sport retail

The big take-out: Convenience and affordability have become critically important.