Over half (53%) of UK businesses report losing millions in revenue due to poor customer experience, with a further 56% agreeing inadequate loyalty programmes have already cost them customers, according to new research from AND Digital.
The findings from the AND Digital Know Me or Lose Me report, which polled 250 business leaders across businesses between £200 million and £2 billion revenue, revealed that 67% believe that without significant improvements to customer experience, their organisation will lose customers within the next year, calling for the urgent need for CEOs to prioritise customer experience to protect their customer base.
With customer expectations evolving, businesses are increasingly seeing data and technology as the key to enhancing experiences with 71% of respondents agreeing that data is the single biggest factor in delivering good customer experience.
However, the ability to leverage data effectively depends on having the right technical infrastructure as 62% of business leaders say that without the right tech stack, along with financial pressures, their organisation will struggle to retain customers.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents agree they are expected to improve customer experience without an increased budget, with a further 69% saying the future of customer loyalty will be dominated by organisations with the biggest tech.
Despite economic challenges, businesses are adjusting their financial priorities to focus on customer experience and retention. Encouragingly, 66% of organisations report shifting their technology budget from customer acquisition to customer retention and loyalty.
Seventy-one percent state that their customer experience budget has increased over the past year, reflecting a growing recognition of the need to invest in long-term customer relationships which is essential for sustainable growth.
Paramjit Uppal, Founder of AND Digital, said: “It’s clear that poor customer experience is directly impacting revenue and retention. Business leaders understand that data is the single biggest factor in delivering good customer experience, and most get that without the right tech stack, they will struggle. It’s reassuring that despite the financial pressure, leaders are reallocating technology budgets from customer acquisition to retention and loyalty and many have prioritised and increased their customer experience investments in the past year.”
AND Digital creates and delivers transformative digital experiences powered by technology, data, AI and scalable platforms, driving competitive advantage and long-term growth.
