Author: Lindsay Wickham

SAP Customer Experience author Emily Morrow uncovered the top digital experiences and trends that will shape customer experience (CX) heading into 2022. Regardless of whether a company is selling B2C, B2B, or DTC (or a combination of those), customer experience can a brand differentiator and should be a strategic priority for businesses.

“Since speed and convenience can no longer be guaranteed, companies need to look elsewhere to differentiate themselves,” says Morrow. “They need to provide value that goes beyond product.” Some of the trends that companies should be thinking about for their digital experience design include flexibility, positivity, purpose, privacy, and added value.

As we know, the pandemic changed the way that employees work—your customers could be working full-time in-person, completely remote, or a hybrid combination that may change. It will be important to offer ecommerce solution that reaches your customers—no matter how/where they are working or buying from. Flexibility and ease of purchasing options will continue to play and important role in ecommerce.

With nonstop digital stimulation, it can be easy for people to burn out and feel fatigued at a rate higher than ever before. Providing a positive customer experience through messaging and tools like recommendations (such as products on sale or similar items purchased) can go a long way via social media and your ecommerce platform enhancements. Other actions such as sending out regular reminders to your customers (perhaps about annual sales or specific discounts) can help to ease the purchasing mindset and make it easy for your customers to make purchases in an easy, meaningful way.

While personalization has been a hallmark of great CX, it will become increasingly important for companies to offer that hyper-personalization but in safe and secure way. Data and privacy are important factors in developing trust when creating a digital experience. According to Morrow, “…every interaction is a way to build—or break—customer trust.” Having information about your company’s Terms and Conditions, as well as other strategies on how to collect data firsthand from your customers should be top-of-mind for companies delivering ecommerce solutions.

Though 2021 saw its fair share of supply chain issues, many end-users and customers have been able to adapt and expect to plan for delays. Because of this, it will become more important than ever for businesses to set themselves apart from their competition by delivering value that goes beyond the product. This can be achieved through offerings like robust customer service touchpoints, relevant and easy-to-consume content, thoughtful communication, or follow-up post-purchase.

However your customer experience evolves, it will be important to reflect those values and offerings clearly in the digital experience that you provide.

Brought to you by the B2B and B2c e-commerce implementation team at FocusPoint: an all-in-one solution for SAP Business One customers.