Its time for a consumer-centred metric: introducing return on experienceGlobal Consumer Insights Survey 20192 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019Its now been a full decade since the Great Recession ushered in whats often called the new normal, a supposed recalibration of whats possible in terms of global economic growth. But a funny thing happened: the worlds consumers displayed unexpected resilience, driven by technological advances that have unleashed a Golden Age of consumption, offering a worldwide bazaar of goods and services open day and night to anyone with a mobile phone. As of March 2019, despite gyrating global stock markets, trade uncertainty, slowing growth in China and an international lurch towards populism and isolationism, consumers stand astride the global economy, still working, still buying, still confident about the future and still embracing new technology. In fact, according to analysis reported in the Financial Times in 2018 the global unemployment level fell to 5.2%, the lowest level in 38 years. And in September 2018, the Brookings Institution reported that for the first time in history, just over half the people on Earth 3.8 billion were rich enough to be classified as middle class. Not only are consumers the strongest link in the global economic chain, but PwCs 10th annual Global Consumer Insights Survey (GCIS) which gathers the sentiments of more than 21,000 online consumers in 27 territories* shows that the technological tools available to them have put them in a position to demand a tailored, channel-agnostic, socially conscious and social-media-powered experience. “Whether your organisation sells household goods, health services, cars or financial services, delivering a superior experience will be what makes you a winner,” says John Maxwell, PwCs Global Consumer Markets leader. In fact, in addition to the traditional return on investment (ROI) metrics used to determine a companys success, PwC believes its time to introduce another metric, one with a focus on customer experience. Because consumers today are so discerning and powerful, its our perspective that most organisations need to invest far more in customer experience (CX). Measuring return on experience (ROX), will help you understand your earnings on investments in the parts of your company directly related to how people interact with your brand. 3 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019CanadaUSABelgiumDenmarkFranceGermanyHungaryIrelandNetherlandsPolandSpainSwitzerlandUKBrazilMiddle EastSouth AfricaRussiaTruly global research: Consumer behavior 39% of them said they go directly to social media for information, compared with 25% overall. Mobile payment services also are gaining widespread acceptance, especially in emerging regions that have leapfrogged past landline-based telephone systems and gone straight to mobile and Consumers shop on smartphones more often than PCsQ: How often do you buy products (e.g. clothes, books, electronics) using the following shopping channels? (Excluding grocery shopping)21,480 respondents (Note: Chart combines daily and weekly shopping) Source: Global Consumer Insights Survey 20190%10%20%30%40%50%In-store PC Tablet Mobile/Smartphone2015 2016 2017 2018 201923%24%Figure 3: Consumers shop on smartphones more often than on PCs6 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019smartphones. The number of people making mobile payments in stores is growing fastest in Vietnam, where our survey showed that the percentage of consumers using such services in-store increased by 24 percentage points, to ChinaThailandHong Kong*VietnamIndonesiaSingaporeMiddle EastPhilippinesRussiaMalaysia86%86%24%20%Biggest growth in mobile payment in Vietnam and Middle East40%23%67%48%64%42%61%37%47%38%46%34%45%25%45%31%45%27%Question: Paid for my purchase using mobile payment (summary by territory)*Low base for Hong Kong Source: Global Consumer Insights Survey 20192019 2018Indicates biggest movement year-over-year61%, in a single year. In the Middle East, the percentage grew by 20 percentage points, to 45% (see Figure 4). Globally, 34% of consumers paid for purchases using mobile payment in-store, up from 24% a year earlier. Figure 4: Biggest growth in mobile payment in Vietnam and Middle East7 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019A frictionless purchase journeyOur survey also suggests that the less friction in the purchase journey, the more often consumers will shop and the more theyll spend. For instance, 65% of our global sample does at least some shopping with Amazon.1But whats really interesting is that of those individuals, more than one-third (34%) said they shop more frequently because they use Amazon, which to PwC suggests that there must be something about the experience that encourages shopping. Italian luxury fashion online retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter Group (YNAP) sees this, too. In 2017, for the first time, YNAPs online sales revenue from shoppers using mobile phones surpassed its online sales revenue from PCs and tablets, respectively. (Results from 2018 werent available at the time of publication.) And crucially, YNAPs own research shows that its mobile customers buy much more frequently than its desktop customers and spend significantly more per year. Its no coincidence, according to Enrico Cavatorta, who served as YNAPs chief financial officer through January 2019. “By enhancing the customer experience at the layer that allows interactions with consumers the web store, the mobile interface YNAP finds that customers spend more time and money shopping with them,” Cavatorta told PwC in a January 2019 interview. Digital voice assistants powered by artificial intelligence (AI) also contribute to a frictionless purchase journey. In our survey, 9% of consumers told us they use voice technology to shop online weekly or more frequently. As 8 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019shopping by voice continues to catch on, companies should be thinking beyond mobile to consider how voice technology in homes, cars and elsewhere will affect customer experience. The bar for brand leadership will continue to shift as organisations launch increasingly consumer-friendly technologies.To design frictionless experiences, its important to think about where the pain points are in your current customer interfaces. David Clarke, PwCs global chief experience officer, says mobile shopping is becoming popular partly because it has demolished barriers that can discourage consumer engagement. For instance, concierge desks in hotels or checkout counters in department stores might seem like opportunities to engage with customers, but they actually can slow down and frustrate people, which hurts real engagement. Mobile shopping is taking off because it comes with no physical barriers, such as checkout lanes or parking lots, and no emotional barriers, such as store clerks who dont make eye contact. “In a way,” Clarke says, “mobile is actually helping consumers enjoy deeper relationships with their favourite retailers and brands. It makes for fewer frustrating, high-friction interactions for customers.”Some barriers to engagement can be overcome with consumer education or through the sheer value of the core experience. Buy online and pick up in store (BOPUS) a purchase journey that in the UK is often called click-and-collect is just picking up steam in the US. It requires customer training, says PwC US principal Tom Johnson, who primarily serves retailers and consumer packaged goods companies. “BOPUS is a whole new experience,” Johnson says. “Customers are going to ask, How does everything work? How does the locker work if Im picking up from a locker? Where do I pull my car in to collect my purchases? Employees can go a long way in helping the customer through these changes, so you have got to invest in those employees to make this happen.”A blend of physical and digital approachesMixing physical or human elements into digital interactions can sometimes make for better customer experiences, especially in sectors where customer acquisition requires education, explanation or personalisation. Financial institutions, for example, often have trouble moving past servicing customer needs online to selling to consumers online and building a relationship with them.Françoise Lamotte, head of direct-to-consumer and digital innovation for MetLife in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region, told PwC a hybrid approach is needed. “You still need the human interaction with the customer to explain the product, understand the need and provide the right solution,” Lamotte said in a January 2019 interview. According to PwCs new GCIS findings, just 15% of our global sample acquired insurance via a digital channel in the past year, only 13% got a personal loan, and 12% executed a financial planning decision. Its not only in financial services that customer acquisition often requires intensive personal effort. Companies can create opportunity, though, by 9 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019augmenting an in-person interaction with digital content before, during and after that interaction. Designing these blended experiences is one of the greatest opportunities to boost ROX. AI and virtual reality (VR) can help create better and personalised digital content experiences, too, allowing executives to close the gap between the success of in-person sales acquisition and digital sales acquisition. In general, whether acquiring customers or serving them over the long term, companies will need to think in novel ways. Lamotte told PwC the future of insurance, for example, could be more targeted, short-term, on-demand products connected to a specific experience or event that a person will have in the near future. “We need to shift our customer journey to associating our insurance solution with various customer experiences,” Lamotte said. Consumers embrace a brave new worldPwCs survey shows that consumers are increasingly willing to engage in nontraditional activities online. This trend is especially noticeable in healthcare, where almost two-thirds of our global sample said theyre willing to access services through companies not typically associated with health, such as Amazon, Apple and Facebook. And why not? Consumers are already using their mobile phones for health information: Almost 75% Fitness rst in the world of healthcare appsQ: Do you use any healthcare, wellness, fitness or medical applications on your phone, smartwatch or tablet? 21,480 respondentsQ: Please indicate which of the following types of apps, if any, you use. Note: Four percent stated “None of the above” 9,474 respondentsSource: Global Consumer Insights Survey 2019Exercise instructionand monitoringDiet, weight loss andhealthy eatingStress reductionVital signmonitoringAppointment andprescriptionsSleepFertility and period trackingFirst aid and other medical informationLive online visits w/a medical caregiver49% 43% 26%21% 26% 37%23% 22% 16%Almost75% of surveyed consumers have up to three healthcare, wellness or fitness apps on their smart devicesFigure 5: Wide adoption of healthcare, wellness and fitness apps10 Its time to understand your organisations return on experience | GCIS 2019of survey respondents who use health-related apps said they have as many as three fitness, healthcare or wellness apps on their mobile devices (see Figure 5). Consumers are pushing other boundaries, too. Almost half of consumers in our survey (46%) would like to have an autonomous vehicle today or would consider one in the future, and an additional 21% would be quite interested in learning more about the technology.2Theyre most interested in automotive features that eliminate the human element of driving decisions and actions, such as braking, hazard perception and parking assistance (see Figure 6). And in the financial services arena, 32% of our global sample would consider investing in digital currency.The most desired features are those that take the human element out of driving decisionsConsumers are most attracted to features where the human element of driving is removedQ: If a connected and autonomous vehicle was made available to you, which of the following features would be most attractive to you? 21,480 respondentsSource: Global Consumer Insights Survey 201934%34%33%30%28%26%20%20%16%14%5%4%Fully automated drivingAutomated braking and hazard perceptionParking assistanceDriver fatigue and well-being monitoringGeo-location servicesIn-car entertainmentVehicle self-diagnosticsIntegration with other connected devicesLane change assistanceNotification to emergency servicesNone of aboveNot sureFigure 6: Consumers are ready for driverless cars