• by Ray Schultz , November 30, 2020

Digital customer experience budgets are rising, but brands still face several hurdles in achieving superior customer experience (CX), including lack of internal resources, according to Digital CX Transformation In Retail, a study by Gatepoint Research, sponsored by iAdvize. 

Of the firms polled, 49% are increasing their spends on digital CX, while 37% are maintaining their budgets and 14% decreasing them. 

Among the obstacles are:

• Availability of internal resources — 57%
• ROI is not clear — 33%
• Systems integration seems daunting — 31%
• Leadership buy-in/understanding/support — 20%
• Website sale are not a priority for the business — 7%

Websites are leading the way when it comes to providing a strong customer experience. Brands list:

• Website — 79%
• Social media — 51%
• In-store or offline events — 38%
• Engagement with our call center — 30%
• Influencer marketing campaigns — 30%
• Advertising — 29%
• Apps — 11%

In addition, 71% cite authenticity as the main driver digital CX excellence. Second was personalization, listed by 64%, followed by positive emotions (59%), 24/7 real-time assistance (41%), message consistency (40%) and human interaction (34%). 

Personalization was specified as a top priority by 81% COVID-19-era respondents, versus 55% of pre-pandemic ones. 

However, 64% say they are delivering successful shopping experience with personalization, compared to 41% doing so with community. However, the latter reflects a rise in maturity, the study notes. 

Gatepoint surveyed over 100 large retailers and ecommerce leaders before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.