Only a quarter of consumers in Singapore (25%) are delighted with the digital experience offered by brands in the country, according to the inaugural SAP Digital Experience Report for Singapore.
The report, which surveyed more than 500 consumers, reveals that 32% of respondents were unsatisfied with their digital experience, while 43% were categorized as ambivalent, giving an overall Digital Experience (DX) score of -7%.
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.
Why the Digital Gap Matters
The poor DX score for Singapore is a cause for concern among brands, indicating a significant gap in performance among industries and individual brands. This gap has significant implications for business outcomes, particularly for metrics around customer loyalty and advocacy.
Consumers delighted with the digital experience were nearly 8 times more likely to stay with a brand than those who were unsatisfied. 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 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.
Privacy versus Personalization
The study uncovered a strong correlation between digital experience performance and consumers’ willingness to disclose personal information. On average, delighted consumers were nearly 8 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.
With personal data a foundation for personalized digital experiences, 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.
What’s Important to Consumers in Singapore in the Digital Experience
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.
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.
Doing Digital Right
Consumers in Singapore rated M1 as one of three leading brands for digital experience. Said Mr. P. Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer, M1 Limited, “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. We are honored that our efforts have been recognized and will continue to invest to ensure we continue to delight our customers.”
Darren Rushworth, Managing Director, SAP Singapore, 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 realize this will see a drop in share of consumers’ wallet.”
He continued, “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.”
Security an important attribute across Southeast Asia
As Southeast Asia consumers increasingly turn to online channels for their needs, safety and security remains a top concern in their 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 percent unsatisfied, giving a digital experience score of 27%. Importantly, delighted consumers are over 9 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.
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.”