The month January is named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology. It seems fitting to kick off this blog with a small tribute to Janus after a challenging 2020—as we start a new year, it is important to reflect on lessons learned from the disruption of the past months as we hope for better times ahead.
At a time when businesses are seeking to adapt and the world needs a vaccine to usher in a sense of normalcy, we at the Teleperformance CX Lab (Customer Experience Lab) wanted to offer a snapshot of changes in markets around the world.
The CX Lab concluded a massive 13-country, 19-sector study globally to determine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on end consumers during the end of 2020. Over the next weeks, we will publish 21 “pills” of insights for 2021 to provide a snapshot of customer behavior. In addition, we will also share the highlights of customers’ expectations on many pressing issues such as financial outlook, work-from-home preferences, shopping behavior, and diversity initiatives, to name a few.
Like Janus, we believe we are at a critical moment in history as five generations have quarantined, Zoomed, and adapted together, emerging from the pandemic with a different outlook and expectations regarding their lifestyle and consumption choices.
What appears ahead of us is a tale of two extremes globally when we look at some of the results. Outcomes vary considerably depending on sector, country, and generation. Let’s start with a few pills of insights from the CX Lab:
Consumer Focus on Value and Good CX: We inquired about changes in shopping behavior in nine dimensions. Within this analysis, for example, we found that nearly 40% of consumers state they are more mindful about getting a good price/quality relation, and choosing brands that provide good customer service. The disruption occurring this year in our daily lives and economic situation impacted consumers’ behaviour and expectations.
The Dispute for Wallet Share: After months of budget tightening, consumers expect to maintain their spending levels going forward in most categories. But, while in many categories, brands need to fight harder to get a share of a reduced customer wallet; in others, they will get an increased stake. For instance, 32% of consumers said they intend to buy a new phone, and 26% intend to buy a new PC, laptop, or tablet. Food delivery—either through a website or app—also has a chance at a bigger slice, with 23% and 22%, respectively stating a higher intention to spend. Segmenting these results, we can see Millennials being the ones looking to spend more on electronics and food delivery, as an example.
The Future of Work: Globally, 41% of consumers working from home expressed a clear preference to continue working remotely. Women and Gen X answered above average at 45%. This result alone has significant implications for the office of the future.
The more the CX Lab analyzes the results, the more we’ll discover some fascinating changes that happened in the last year. On the next dose of the CX Lab’s 21 Pills of Insights, join me as we present more information on channel usage and preferences. Keep an eye out for it! In the meantime, if you wish to learn more about changing trends and know more insights on CX, please download this free white paper.
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