People are living through the world's worst cost-of-living-crisis in decades, with myriad countries, including South Africa, experiencing the brunt of it thanks to stubbornly high interest rates due to persistently steep inflation which causes our money to have less mileage than it used to, says the report.

This is the background to the sixth consecutive South African Customer Experience Report. The report has been tracking consumers' on- and offline behaviour since 2019 to understand how brands' retail experiences affect customers and their purchasing power.

According to the report, 2 000 people were surveyed online alongside 75 business leaders across various sectors.

The 2024 SA CX Report authors comprise:

  • Rogerwilco's CEO Charlie Stewart
  • Julia Ahlfeldt, a customer experience professional (CCXP) from Julia Ahlfeldt Consulting, and
  • founding director of research business, ovatoyou, Amanda Reekie.

The 2024 SA CX Report has a very distinct theme that runs through it; there is a giant disconnect between what businesses think drives repeat business among consumers versus how consumers actually behave — creating a R12.148-billion opportunity cost for brands, says the authors. 

The report shows that while 71% of consumers want a reliable service and or product offering that they can depend on and will buy from again and again, the same percentage of businesses (71%) believe that repeat purchases are due to customers trusting them (versus the 54% of consumers who concurred).

"One could be forgiven for believing that price is driving demand in the current cost-of-living crisis and that is not incorrect. Sixty-three percent of consumers say it's why they will buy from a brand again. But what is clear from the research is that consumers want to be wooed by their favourite brands and made to feel special too, so much so that in many cases they are willing to pay more," says Reekie.  

According to the SA CX Report, consumers are willing to pay more for:

  • restaurant or fast-food offerings — 60%
  • beauty or personal care — 56%
  • accommodation and travel — 56%
  • grocery retail — 55%
  • healthcare / medical aid — 55%, and
  • clothing / fashion — 55%.

On the opposite end of the scale, consumers are least likely to pay more in return for a positive customer experience when engaging with:

  • insurers — 45%
  • banks — 44%
  • DIY — 40%, and
  • communication methods — 39%.

"Money is really tight right now so spending is careful and considered, meaning the brands consumers choose to use, are likely offering something different through memorable 'moments of delight'. These so-called moments set brands far apart from one another and it is this extra (last) mile mindset that is winning the war of the wallet," says Ahlfeldt. 

However, Stewart, Ahlfeldt and Reekie go on to say that in summary of previous iterations of the report, the key insight was that brands, at that time, needed to up their customer experience (CX) game. Brands needed to improve everything from:

  • check-out mechanics
  • UX
  • delivery fees, and
  • overall customer engagement.

The improvments needed to be made, whether it was for pain points or purchasing pleasure — and that this has largely been done across the board, adds the authors.

"This CX consolidation across brands and sectors now creates a risk as if all of them implement the same changes, but ignore delivering some form of 'delight', the uniqueness of any brand is on par with its peers, making the sector homogenised through the offering of 'same-same' experiences," says Ahlfeldt. 

"So while across every sector brands are working hard to offer the same seamless experience, ensuring that the basics such as making sure purchases work as they say on the box, are received in good time and nick (when buying online) and flawlessly integrated with their in-store experience and, if there are any problems, that they are resolved very quickly, they are becoming a 'me-too'," adds Ahlfeldt.  

Brands, Do What You Say on the Box

Because of this universal CX approach, which is being applied to all and sundry, brands need to work far harder to 'get' their customers and offer a shopping experience that exceeds others in their categories and sub-categories.

However, the report shows, there is a major 'mind the gap' moment happening where brands are at total odds with their customers, missing the 'delight me' mark. 

"Delivering a reliable experience comes through in 2024 as the number one reason why consumers repeatedly buy from a brand. This versus "delivery," which was the primary reason in 2023. Further, most interestingly, given the financial climate we are living in, this year's data indicates that, among consumers, having the best price ranked as the second most important factor when purchasing from brands," says Stewart. 

"This is unexpected but understandable; consumers want the best experience at the lowest price. Simple," adds Stewart. 

Going Above and Beyond — Avoiding 'Same-Same' Experiences

With the above in mind, it is clear from the report that today's consumer wants a brand that: 

  • is easy to find when shopping online — 66% 
  • has a range of safe and secure payments — 61%, and
  • has an easy checkout process — 60%. 

"These should all be provided as standard by brands; what truly sets them apart, however, is delivering delight," Ahlfeldt says.

Locally Takealot unsurprisingly came up trumps in this regard, with most consumers citing them as the organisation that consistently delights consumers with great CX. Checkers and Sixty60 ranked second and Chinese retail brand Shein ranked third, according to the SA CX Report. 

"Even the contentious Temu, which has taken the market by storm on Google since launching recently, and that has aggregated thousands of small producers that put their offerings online for worldwide delivery, had a large mention of being called out for excellent delivery — and they are sending goods all the way from China," says Reekie.

Disaster or Delight? The Power of True Reviews

Delivering delight isn't necessarily hard. The sample says that they are thrilled when their online purchase arrives as promised, on time, quickly and reliably and is of good quality, says Stewart, Ahlfeldt and Reekie. 

"Is this not what brands are meant to be doing as a matter of course though?" questions Stewart. "This clearly underscores how low the CX bar is and why simply doing what you promise is deemed "delightful"."

According to the report, when a consumer has a good experience — i.e. the purchasing process was 'reliable' and the value good — they are increasingly using review channels to share what happened. What's more, consumers are also researching these testimonial-style reviews in great detail before purchasing — to ensure that what they buy is what they will get (or even something a little extra).

The SA CX Report shows that consumers preferred channels to do this is by:

  • turning to a company's website — 66%
  • referring to their social media channels — 64%, or
  • asking friends and family for recommendations — 61%.

On the other end of the scale influencers — who have been making big names for themselves in recent times — scored a dismal 30%, demonstrating how little faith consumers have in these paid partnerships, shows the report. 

"Reviews are proof points of a brand's service and experience. They are third-party endorsements and go to great lengths to help businesses secure new and repeat business. We have found that today's websites need to be rich in reviews — compared to the stripped-down versions of yesteryear — and that, in an increasingly AI-generated world, instigated by LLMs (large language models)," says Stewart.

"The idea of truth really must be questioned; 'Is what I am reading / seeing / watching true? Or could it be fake news or AI?' My advice to consumers is to be very discerning and look for hard evidence such as other customer reviews before buying," adds Stewart.

Help is at (a Human's) Hand 

According to the SA CX Report, when there is a problem with a product or service:

  • email is the preferred problem-solving channel — 24%
  • with a call centre following in second place —19%
  • then Google — 18%, and
  • a chat function — 12%.

Social media ranked poorly, with just 7% of respondents saying they use these channels to address pain points. There has also been a shift in the use of WhatsApp as a business channel, with businesses rating it as their third communication channel of choice, while consumers list it as their least favourite in terms of effectiveness, shows the report. 

"Branches or stores have the added advantage of the human element. Customers like speaking to a person versus a bot, and they seek help in-store as it's not only a learned behaviour but offers the opportunity for human connection that contributes to an ease with the brand and immediate issue resolution," says Ahlfeldt.

"There is also a sense of efficiency and effectiveness in-store, trust and familiarity, a good business nature and professionalism,” Ahlfeldt adds. 

Mind the Gap

As is clear from this year's South African Customer Experience Report the market has come a long way since the first CX Report was released six years ago, says Reekie. "Today our report indicates that many more people (24%) compared to last year (13%) claim to have not had a poor brand experience, which is a positive, and significant, leap forward."

"But beyond implementing the CX essentials (which most brands now all do) there is a significant opportunity — and to be frank, urgency — for businesses to deliver a differentiated brand experience and garner brand love among consumers to imbue faithfulness and loyalty in repeat purchasing," according to Reekie.

"This can lead to the sharing of their positive experience(s) online and via social, as well as among friends and family causing the till to ring, keeping brands top-of-mind and ahead of their category and cross-category peers," adds Reekie.

"Of course, right now, every rand and cent counts. But if all experiences are 'same-same', the next thing that a consumer will look at is price, leaving brands in a race to the bottom. Businesses have an opportunity to turn this on its head and look at each point in their customer journey as there is an opportunity to delight and connect with customers by offering that little bit extra. Those that do, will win, converting the R12-billion lost opportunity cost into customer conversions and repeat sales," concludes Ahlfeldt.

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*Image courtesy of contributor