The 2023 South African Digital CX Report
The 2023 report took a more holistic look at the state of customer experience than previous editions. It also incorporated a business survey for the first time, allowing a comparison of the corporate view from the consumer one. The report’s key finding was around a troublesome malaise - that good was fast becoming considered good enough when it came to experience expectations.
While the number of online shoppers is starting to plateau (88% of the consumers we surveyed have bought something online in the past 12 months ve 87% last year), how we’re using the internet is changing. We saw growth in the number of people who go online to get ideas or discover products (61% - up from 46% last year), obtain customer service / resolve issues (rising to 45% from 37%) and post reviews which shot up from 32% to 38% suggesting we’re paying it forward by sharing feedback of our own experiences to support others’ buying decisions.
Q: Which part of your process of purchasing a product are happening online? (Select as MANY as APPLY)
We asked our consumer panel whether ESG influences their decision to make repeat purchases from the same company. A full 30% acknowledge the role of sustainability in building loyalty. In contrast to this consumer expectation, just 16% of our business audience confirmed that they consistently factor ESG into customer experiences. This suggests that businesses are missing a sustainability trick that could create a positive point of differentiation and drive repeat purchase behaviour.
