Asia-Pacific shoppers expect data integrity

Four in five Asia-Pacific shoppers will not buy from a brand again if their data has been used without their knowledge, according to the latest SAP Hybris Consumer Insight survey.

But despite this, more than 83 per cent of respondents are willing to share at least some form of personal information with brands, with the exception of Japanese at a modest 52 per cent.

More than 7000 consumers across Asia-Pacific were surveyed to uncover consumer preferences when engaging with brands, including what makes or breaks a customer experience and the continued use of a brand.  

“Accounting for half of the world’s total 3.6 billion internet users, Asia-Pacific is fast becoming the center of digital innovation for the world and it is also the fastest growing region, accounting for 70 per cent of total growth in global internet users in 2016,” said Nicholas Kontopoulos, global VP of fast growth markets marketing with SAP Hybris. “This rapid growth of the internet, mobile phones and other digital technologies has created opportunities and challenges for millions of consumers and brands in the region.”

The SAP Hybris survey found that Asia-Pacific consumers are most comfortable with sharing the email addresses (58 per cent), shopping history and preferences (49 per cent), and mobile numbers (36 per cent) with brands.

But while these allow brands to create personalised customer experience for the consumers, usage of consumer data has to be approached with extra caution: 67 per cent expect brands to protect their interest when using their personal data, followed by transparency in data usage (52 per cent), and ensuring customer privacy in the event of criminal investigations at (47 per cent).

Consumers have higher expectations

In this digital age, consumers also have higher expectations of brands. More than 80 per cent of respondents in the region indicated they expect brands to respond within 24 hours, setting that as the baseline expectations on the speed of response. The survey further revealed that one in two Asia-Pacific respondents expect brands to respond within three hours – a much faster response time than what brands typically deliver.

Thailand and China are the most demanding markets in the region, with 48 per cent expecting brands to respond to their queries within the hour – 56 per cent of consumers from these two countries also indicated they will not use of brand again if it makes a mistake twice.

“When one contacts a brand, it is not uncommon to receive an automated reply indicating that a customer service staff will get in touch within a working day. However, findings from our recent survey highlight that this is not enough,” said Kontopoulos.

“With customer expectations higher than ever due with digitisation, the pressure is on for marketers to keep up with tech-savvy, always-online consumers – or risk getting trampled by the competition.”

The survey also found that the majority of respondents (61 per cent) in the region indicated high volume and irrelevance of marketing content as the biggest annoyances.

“In addition to speed and timeliness, relevance and personalisation of content served to consumers have also become key measures of success for brands attempting to connect with customers,” he said.

And now for a surprise…

What then counts as a personalised customer experience?

Fifty-eight per cent of consumers across Asia-Pacific ranked receiving surprises from brands as the top activity that demonstrates personalised customer experience. In Singapore, China and Japan, value-added services such as free workshops and product trials, follow closely to surprises.

However, customers in Australia, India, Thailand and Korea, value personalised responses to their queries based on a full understanding of their consumption history with the brand.

“Beyond simply capturing customer data, the ability to analyse, contextualise and more importantly, act on insights gathered in real-time, are key to truly impress savvy consumers today. Brands which are unable to adapt their businesses ability to meet the needs of today’s dynamic consumers are in danger of quickly becoming irrelevant,” concluded Kontopoulos.

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