Consumers in Singapore rated M1 as one of the leading brands for digital experience
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| Source: SAP. Cover for the SAP Digital Experience Report for Singapore. |
The inaugural SAP Digital Experience Report* has revealed that only a quarter of Singapore consumers are delighted with the digital experience offered by brands in the country. A third (32%) of respondents were unsatisfied with their digital experience, while four in 10 (43%) said that they are ambivalent, resulting in an overall Digital Experience (DX) score of -7% for the country.
"We're seeing that the consumerisation piece is becoming so important to every company that we needed to actively engage and better understand how we can support companies on their journey," explained Darren Rushworth, Managing Director, SAP Singapore, about the genesis of the research.
The SAP Digital Experience Report for Singapore surveyed more than 500 consumers and aggregated more than 1,300 ratings of digital engagements with local brands. In the survey, the digital experience is defined as how a brand digitally interacts with its customers during the discovery, purchase, delivery and support of a product or service.
Consumers rated brands on their ability to deliver on 14 key attributes of the digital experience, ranging from functional aspects such as security and availability to more emotional aspects such as interactivity and engagement.
SAP says the poor DX score for Singapore indicates a significant gap in performance among industries and individual brands. Such a gap has significant implications for business outcomes, particularly for metrics around customer loyalty and advocacy - the same research has found that consumers who are delighted with their digital experience are nearly eight times more likely to stay with a brand than those who are unsatisfied.
"We're seeing that the consumerisation piece is becoming so important to every company that we needed to actively engage and better understand how we can support companies on their journey," explained Darren Rushworth, Managing Director, SAP Singapore, about the genesis of the research.
The SAP Digital Experience Report for Singapore surveyed more than 500 consumers and aggregated more than 1,300 ratings of digital engagements with local brands. In the survey, the digital experience is defined as how a brand digitally interacts with its customers during the discovery, purchase, delivery and support of a product or service.
Consumers rated brands on their ability to deliver on 14 key attributes of the digital experience, ranging from functional aspects such as security and availability to more emotional aspects such as interactivity and engagement.
SAP says the poor DX score for Singapore indicates a significant gap in performance among industries and individual brands. Such a gap has significant implications for business outcomes, particularly for metrics around customer loyalty and advocacy - the same research has found that consumers who are delighted with their digital experience are nearly eight times more likely to stay with a brand than those who are unsatisfied.
The findings also demonstrate that delighted customers are more emotionally connected to brands, which in turn will lead to greater brand affinity. Loyal customers are also more willing to buy more from brands for a longer period of time and will not hesitate to influence others to do the same.
Furthermore, those delighted with the digital experience delivered a Net Promoter Score** (NPS) of 53%, compared to an average of -70% from those who were unsatisfied. The NPS is an indication of customer loyalty: a positive NPS reflects the number of people who are willing to say good things about a brand after accounting for those willing to say negative things. A negative NPS results when more people complain about a brand than are willing to support it.
Privacy versus personalisation
The study uncovered a strong correlation between digital experience performance and consumers’ willingness to disclose personal information. The survey suggests that brands that delight their customers can have greater access to personal data, enabling them to further improve and tailor the digital experiences they provide. On average, delighted consumers were nearly eight times more likely to provide brands with personal data than those who were unsatisfied.
For example, delighted consumers consistently showed a more trusting relationship with brands, with a higher percentage willing to share their personal finances, health records, educational level and buying preferences.
A deeper look into the data revealed that safety and security is a top priority for consumers in Singapore, with 55% rating this attribute either 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 to 10. Other digital attributes that are important to consumers in Singapore in their digital experiences include being available to consumers anytime and the option to receive relevant offers without having to give up their privacy.
Rushworth noted that in Singapore, respondents were more focused on functionality than what an experience that 'makes me feel special' - the market of one, as it were. "They're less about me, more about technology and the functional piece," he said.
Although consumers generally ranked functional attributes as more important, those brands that performed best were also able to connect through the digital experience at an emotional level; for example, by delivering experiences that excite and engage their customers as well as those that are responsive and interactive.
Consumers in Singapore rated M1 as one of three leading brands for digital experience. Said P. Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer, M1, “Our customers are at the heart of our business, and we strive to deliver the best experience – responsive, personal, relevant and convenient – across all touch points.”
Rushworth said, “Singapore is already ahead of the curve in building the world’s first Smart Nation. Consequently, customers in Singapore are highly sophisticated in their digital demands. With ICT and connectivity as a strategic enabler for Singapore’s knowledge-based society, there is no denying the importance of digital strategy to all businesses here. As evident from SAP’s Digital Experience Report, brands that fail to realise this will see a drop in share of consumers’ wallet.
"Brands can bridge the digital experience gap between them and their consumers by adopting a clear digital strategy that brings together marketing, sales, services, and commerce to ensure seamless digitization of the entire customer experience. SAP solutions for customer engagement and commerce, powered by the SAP HANA platform, facilitates a 360-degree customer view and how brands can better engage them.”
In Southeast Asia safety and security remained a top concern for digital engagement across the markets with close to 60% rating this as an important attribute of a digital experience. The ability to engage anytime and on their own terms is also rated highly at 49% followed by having a cohesive, integrated and simple experience at 46%.
Across countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, less than half (47%) were delighted with their digital experience, with 20% unsatisfied, giving a digital experience score of 27%. Importantly, delighted consumers are over nine times more likely to remain loyal than those who are unsatisfied and deliver an NPS of 70% compared to -67% from those who are unsatisfied.
Rushworth acknowledged that developing countries were generally positive about their digital experiences whereas the developed countries were generally negative about them. "Those countries that are better connected, that are more experienced in m-commerce, are harder to please," he noted. "There is a correlation between the experience and the connectivity of the country. (Respondents') expectations are higher."
Scott Russell, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia said, “In the digital era, consumers are changing the rules, but technology is changing the game. The ability to delight customers with a desirable digital experience is a competitive differentiator. Losing out in consumer digital experience will directly affect a brand’s bottom line and its business value. Our research shows that while nearly half of consumers in Southeast Asia are satisfied with their digital experience, more can be done to enhance a brand’s digital experience to create a lasting and sustainable relationship. What brands need for the future would be business software to meet market challenges and evolve new business models, to engage customers in the most digitally delightful way.”
With the results in, SAP plans to sit down with some of the companies which are mentioned in the survey to take them through what Singaporeans are expecting from them, he said. Rushworth advises brands to discover what it is that is driving their score or their current ranking.
"It is very important for companies to see how they rank and what they need to invest in. What do they do with that information? We have a Digital Business Framework that looks at it holistically. It is not just about just having a digital business, it's about looking at new business models as well. Companies that were born for digital typically had better digital experience scores than those who didn't have a focus on digital technology. Banking and telecommunications companies do better as have made a concerted effort to have a digital strategy," he said.
Engaging today’s digital customer demands a transformation not just at the front end but throughout the organisation. SAP’s Digital Business Framework helps digitise the entire value chain for businesses with the end-to-end customer experience in mind. To respond quickly to customer needs, SAP advises that the business should be able to run simply and make live decisions aided by ‘in the moment’ intelligence and insight. A single platform that brings together commerce, marketing, billing, service and sales will ensure seamless digitisation of the entire customer experience, delivering a consistent and relevant experience to customers across every channel and on every device.
Interested?
Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about the APJ results for the same report
*SAP’s Digital Experience Report offers detailed insights into customers’ digital expectations and the ability of brands to meet them. Carried out across Southeast Asia, the report captures responses from across five countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. The results reflected the preferences of over 3,600 consumers who rated more than 240 brands resulting in 9,375 digital interactions against 14 attributes.
**SAP asked consumers about their propensity to recommend the brand to a friend (applying Net Promoter Score methodology) and their loyalty to the brand, and if they would remain a customer in the future.
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