Customer Intelligence

Customer Expectations – The modern customer and their expectations

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09/06/2019
Reading time: 8 minutes

Customers have expectations of a brand when they engage with the company's products and services with the intention of buying a product from a very specific brand.

For them to be satisfied, their expectations must be met. For them to be delighted, more must happen. Their expectations must be exceeded.

Customer Expectations - what you need to know

What customers generally always expect

good cooperation
friendly behaviour
good service
error-free products
fair prices

What modern customers also expect

personalized Customer Experience over the entire Customer Journey
quick and uncomplicated management of their issues
recognition of their demand
removal of their fears
(almost) constant availabilty through differen communication channels

What is the "modern customer"?

The modern, enlightened customer has access to all relevant information and calls it up when he needs it during his search. The modern customer knows what they want, their needs, wants and fears. It is not enough for them to simply be satisfied, they want an excellent customer experience, they want to be delighted. This is true before the purchase, but also during the buying process and after the purchase.

How can a company meet the needs of the modern customer?

Customers expect a user experience that is personal, unique and seamless. Users want ways to connect with the brand/company and its employees, thereby getting a meaningful answer to their questions and help with their problems quickly at any time.

Today we fortunately have enough tools, resources and almost unlimited potential to identify and assess customer needs and wants, expectations, likes, dislikes and fears, and create solutions for them.

Exceeding customer expectations - with this!

See what our customers have to say

Focus on the modern customer - the example of Amazon

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, once said, “We’re not obsessed with competition, we’re obsessed with the customer, and we’ve been stuck with three big ideas at Amazon for almost 18 years – putting customers first, inventing, and being patient.”

In 2019, Amazon’s e-commerce market share was 35%. The company is obsessed with offering its customers the best products at unbeatable prices, one-click checkouts, and exceptional customer service with streamlined fulfillment processes.

Prime members receive many perks, even though those are now considered normal among the general population. The video streaming service Amazon Prime Video has grown rapidly since its launch in 2007. There are now more than 150 million Amazon Prime customers worldwide. This success has enabled them to produce their own series and movies in addition to pure streaming. Dozens of original series and movies have since been produced, giving streaming providers like Netflix and Hulu stiff competition. And this from a company that until now was rather simply labeled as the largest online marketplace.

But why did Amazon start with video-on-demand?

This is a difficult question and there will not be one answer. During my research, I was also not able to clearly find out what Amazon’s intention behind Prime Video was. The fact is that Amazon entered a completely different market and had to be pretty sure that with the new Prime Video offer, more Amazon customers could be won for Prime membership or active Prime members could be kept via the streaming offer.

Due to the fast delivery, e.g. within 24 hours in Munich, the free shipping and the one-click ordering, the temptation as a Prime customer is great to buy even more products directly via Amazon and to use and experience the platform even more intensively.

I think it’s fair to say that Amazon has seen the video streaming business primarily as a customer loyalty tool and sales booster.

E-Commerce: What the modern customer wants

simple and intuitive usability of the user interface
immediate and fast discoverability of his search product (desired product)
Personalized shopping experiences with customized product recommendations
free shipping
free return
multiple payment options, purchase on account and extended payment terms e.g. via Klarna

How you optimize Customer Expectations in e-commerce.

Offer different shipping options including an express and a standard shipping. The standard shipping should be free of charge if possible. If this is not possible, communicate the costs transparently to the customer so that there are no nasty surprises at the end of the ordering process.
Inform your customer about the current status during the processing of his order. This should not only be done once by e-mail. Instead, let your customers participate in the entire processing of the order.

Offer competitive prices and excellent value for money.
Provide your customers with detailed product information. This includes information about features, materials, dimensions, and weight. Questions that arise should also be answered, in order to save support effort for individual answers to the same questions over and over again. A good guide to what questions might be asked often is the question-and-answer section on the product pages of major mail order companies.
Besides product details, you should also provide your customers with information about the ordering process, delivery and returns.
Provide user reviews. Honest and unbiased user reviews are more genuine, especially with product photos that they have taken themselves. From the reviews you can gain valuable insights, a regular look at the reviews or monitoring is worthwhile. You should comment on negative reviews, addressing the customer’s concerns and offering a solution if necessary. Comments show professionalism and that customer feedback is important to you.
Your site needs to be accessible via mobile devices and provide a perfect user experience (UX) on mobile as well. Don’t think of this as a feature, but as a matter of course. It goes without saying that most product searches come from smartphones. The approach “Mobile first!” may sound trite, but it is still as relevant as ever. Therefore, pay attention to the mobile view in all optimization measures.

Conclusion

Comprehend customer expectations in all directions of the buying process in order to create an ideal customer experience. Whether you operate in the business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, whether you sell stationary or are active in e-commerce. Be critical and discover the expectations of your ideal customer profile to (even) better understand your modern customers of tomorrow. So you can offer them an exceptional experience with your brand. And always remember: you just need to ask your customers and actively listen to them, even between the lines.