New digital experiences

What new digital experience formats are emerging — and how do AI conversational interfaces, proactive messaging journeys, in-app support, and digital-physical integration change what organizations can offer to customers who increasingly live their lives in digital environments?

How businesses are offering new digital experiences for customer service

Digital technology is already firmly embedded in the customer service models of many businesses. Email and chat channels have been around for a couple of decades and are widely adopted. According to research by Salesforce 95% of surveyed business offer email support and 52% offer online chat. Emerging, second wave channels are also being implemented with success and provide customers with new digital experiences as they interact with organizations.

Some of these newer channels are already being offered by more businesses than the older online chat channel, likely driven by consumers' social media habits. What are these second-tier digital channels?

Here's a quick overview:

Automated assistants/chatbots

Speaking of chatbots, they can be deployed in multiple channels - online, company apps, messaging apps - to provide support. Users can speak or type commands that will prompt chatbots to perform tasks like ordering pizza or providing order status. Our benchmark research shows chatbots are gaining acceptance, but consumers want them to get smarter before they will use them regularly.

Messaging apps

Did you know six of the top ten global apps are messaging apps? Messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are hugely successful and organizations that want to be where their customers are use them for customer service. Taking it a step further, businesses can add a chatbot to create a new digital experience for their customers.

Social media

When customers comment about their issues on a company’s Facebook posts or Tweet about service failures, customer-centric organizations respond or risk a public flogging. That's likely why 72% of businesses* include social media in their customer service mix. The interesting thing is that neither customers nor businesses like using social media for customer service. It seems to be a necessary evil.

Video chat

Video chat support is poised to offer new digital experiences to consumers. Although not commonly used yet, advances in smartphone video capabilities paired with the rollout of 5G just might give video chat a needed jumpstart. Video chat not only creates more personal conversations, but it enables agents to be able to see what the customer is having trouble with, like attaching cables to new hardware.