Dive Brief:
- More than 4 in 5 shoppers say online retailers failed to meet their expectations at least once in the past year, according to a survey of more than 1,500 consumers by Celigo. A quarter were disappointed four to nine times in the past year, and 11% reported having 10 or more poor experiences.
- More than 3 in 5 respondents said product reviews are an important part of the online shopping journey. The same rate of consumers specifically look for reviews on the retailer’s website to inform their purchasing decisions.
- Nearly one-third of shoppers said late deliveries would prevent them from shopping with that company again. More than a quarter cited poor customer service as a reason to shun a brand.
Dive Insight:
Consumers’ rising expectations for digital experiences has been outpacing their expectations for physical experiences, according to Maxie Schmidt, VP and principal analyst at Forrester. Companies at the forefront of deploying modern technology for digital experiences are setting the pace.
“If your customers have become used to interacting with the website or app of a brand that is very good at experience design, that raises the bar for all the brands that those users interact with,” Schmidt told CX Dive in an email.
Technological advancements are even changing expectations for on-site reviews.
Generative AI-powered summaries, which highlight the most common elements of a given product’s reviews, are a good way to make the review experience easier and more accessible, according to Kassi Socha, director analyst of marketing at Gartner.
Most retailers that actively collect customer reviews can also introduce generative AI summaries, Socha said. Early adopters, including electronics retailer Newegg and Amazon, were able to pilot and launch the feature on their sites in less than three months.
Companies that don’t have a review strategy in place can start simple, according to Socha. A basic product review experience can include filters, even if a retailer doesn't yet have the tools to start aggregating and summarizing an array of reviews.
