In the post-pandemic world, good CX is your strongest business moat

Until the last decade, customer experience (CX) used to be an esoteric concept limited to the affluent customer base who frequented Disneyland or flew business class with Lufthansa.

But with digital technology seeping into almost all aspects of our lives, CX has become a non-negotiable part of every business’ growth.

Customers these days place a high value on CX no matter which domain you operate in.

Whether you’re in the business of ride-hailing services or you run an e-commerce store-good CX is an absolute must today to acquire as well as retain customers for the long haul.

Never has the importance of CX been so important more than now. The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic has radically accelerated the adoption of digitalization across all industries.

Coming from Microsoft, one of the world’s leading tech companies, this is a big testimony towards the digital future we all are headed towards.

Welcome to the world of “experience economy.”

No matter how good your product or distribution strategies are, you won’t be able to cut any ice without a good CX strategy.

Across all industries, there are brands that offer more or less the same set of things-similar price range, lookalike features, and similar product quality.

Today, you can’t bank on making your brand stand out based on the set of features you offer or your competitive price.

Your brand differentiation depends on how well you face your customers, how fast you solve their queries, and how deeply you can build lasting relationships with them.

All of which boils down to having a wholesome customer experience.

A good CX is critical because it’s what differentiates a good brand from the mediocre ones. Good CX acts as your unique selling point (USP) to help customers favor your brand over the competition.

Good CX also has a direct impact on all aspects of your business metrics-customer retention, brand loyalty, and customer lifetime value.

At a time when the world is moving from the traditional brick-and-mortar business model into a largely phygital marketing model, it’s now imperative for your enterprise to reevaluate your online presence and service offering.

Your business needs to move towards building an agile, integrated application platform with a digital-first approach-and with a strong focus on CX across all channels.

Let’s look at a brand example to understand why this is important.

How Sephora cracked the code of good CX

Sephora is a global chain of personal care and beauty stores based out of France.

If you’re familiar with Sephora, you must also be aware that beauty and skin care are some of the most cut-throat business environments that exist in the retail segment.

But Sephora has carved its own niche despite being in such a hostile business environment-mostly because of its infallible omnichannel CX strategy.

To say that Sephora is obsessed with its customers is putting it mildly.

The brand unifies its offline in-store customer experience seamlessly with a range of digital services in a way that’s not quite evolved-if not entirely unheard of-in its domain.

It’s because of its dogged determination towards building a world-class CX that won Sephora the #1 spot in the best Retail Personalization Index in 2018 and 2019.

If you’re a Sephora customer, you’re in for a special treat the moment you step into one of their 2,300 stores spread across the globe.

Take its virtual makeover platform as yet another example, which allows customers to try Sephora’s products virtually through Snapchat- and Instagram-like photo filters.

There’s no doubt that Sephora knows that the future of commerce is mostly digital.

That’s why it offers high-touch customer experiences and leverages all of its digital channels-emails, mobile, and in-app notifications-to offer a hyper-personalized customer experience

Unlike other brand’s loyalty programs, Sephora’s rewards program is a big hit among its customers because it lets them control how they want to spend their loyalty points.

How good is your CX strategy?

While the pandemic continues to disrupt the traditional operational models, it’s the right time for you to recalibrate your growth strategies and quickly pivot to build powerfully connected digital platforms.

The best way for you to start doing that is by integrating your digital storefront with your physical retail store, and your supply chain network with the entire backend operations.

Of course, an added layer of data analytics would be a cherry on top since data is the competitive advantage for all businesses in today’s uber-connected, hyper-competitive economy.

It’s time for you to speed up your digital transformation process and evolve as a savvy digital company as it paces towards the path to recovery.

Originally published at https://www.manishnepal.com on March 31, 2022.