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How is Tech Fuelling Customer Experience?

Martech Outlook | Monday, October 28, 2019

Brands must evolve continually along with technological advancements to keep pace with the ever changing customer demands and expectations.

FREMONT, CA: Customers are the most crucial aspect of a business enterprise. For any business to thrive, it is necessary to have a loyal consumer base, which is only achievable by delighting consumers via augmented experiences. Today, customer experience in every industry is driven by digital technology. The business landscape is evolving rapidly, and customers demand improved experiences. Fortunately, technology is here to help brands. Keeping customers satisfied and contented is the primary goal of business, for which business leaders should arm their workers with the right means to use technology. There are new improvements in tech that are improving consumer satisfaction. And here is the major technology advancements that customer experience leaders should consider delivering a competitive advantage.

• Virtual Reality (VR) Now a Reality

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The popularity of VR is growing, and it is rising as a notable game-changer for brands to engage with their consumers. VR provides an immersive experience that makes it feasible for the customer to experience things they cannot interact physically with. Leading brands are already taking benefit of VR technology to enhance both customer and employee experience. VR is now used for virtual eLearning to train consumer associates on customer service. The workers use VR headsets that give a chance to test techniques, helping workers handle situations efficiently. Brands provide customers with the chance to try-out or test products and services by themselves in a virtual environment.

• Location-Based Services via Smart Devices

With location service technology becoming a standard feature in smart devices, people today are walking throughout with location service enabled gadgets in their pockets. This presents compelling opportunities, which companies can explore to provide more customized services to customers in a way that enhances the customer experience. Companies are using location-based promos to reach out to users at a particular geo-location with personalized offers based on their location. Brands are also launching apps that enable customers to navigate the huge warehouse-like stores that help them in finding products faster and easier. These kinds of applications work using a combination of VR and location-based services.

• 3D Printing in Product Manufacturing

Previously, 3D printing used to be the essence of fiction. However, today, it is a reality that has started to revolutionize customer experience by adding efficiency and modifying the way brands manufacture goods. 3D printing makes it feasible to convert a virtual thing into a physical one almost immediately. With 3D printing, product creators can design and print 3D goods and prototypes fast and inexpensively. This makes it possible to detect flaws in the design and fix them beforehand in the production method, saving money, and preventing issues that might impact customer experience negatively. Besides enhancing manufacturing, 3D printing makes it feasible to create highly personalized products and services for customers.

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• Chatbots Making Customer Life Easier

Chatbot technology has become a buzzword, with brands discovering innovative ways to put them in use. Chatbots offer various advantages for businesses, making life easier for consumers, 24/7 service availability, time savings, and many more. With the assistance of intelligent chatbots, brands are equipped better to manage customer service functions. These virtual assistants accomplish a customers' requirement for getting on-the-spot service support from a brand. Chatbots are relied upon to seek assistance through voice, instant messaging, SMS, mobile app, or websites. As they ensure quick responses, consumer queries are managed efficiently, improving customer satisfaction and experience.

• Internet of Things (IoT) Creating New Opportunities

IoT is the growing network of devices from simple sensors to wearables and smartphones, featuring an IP address for internet connectivity and communication among these devices and other internet-enabled devices and systems. According to records, the total number of connected devices in business has grown into billions that create new possibilities for brands to take the customer experience to a completely new level. IoT generates an immense amount of data, which is a valuable source of insights on customer behavior and device performance to recognize areas of improvement, user patterns, and more. These insights are used to improve efficiency, develop more sound products, or build more customized service offerings. Integrating AI tools and IoT makes it likely to develop predictive models that utilize condition-based monitoring to prevent failures before they occur. This enables brands to offer timely maintenance services to fix issues before the functionality is hampered, thereby eliminating downtimes.

• AI Powered Recommendation Engines

Due to significant advancements in the advancement of natural language processing, machine learning, and cognitive computing, AI is already compelling its way into business processes across the enterprise, poised to have a notable impact on customer experience. AI features are frequently being used by brands and retailers in different kinds of ways, from personalization to enhanced support and security services. Brands are embracing AI to magnify customer experience and distinguish themselves from their opponents. Big brands use robust recommendation engines that is power-driven by AI that analyze customer search and purchase history and then use the data to make recommendations the user is most likely to value.

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