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The technological advancements we have experienced over the recent years, accelerated by the global pandemic has given rise to a new version of consumers – the digital consumers – who have a totally different taste in digital products. Global statistics on smartphone adoption show that the trend has risen from 49.40% in 2016 to 83.72% in 2022 and is expected to remain exponential in the coming years. This massive penetration has amplified customer voices now more than ever, transferring Customer Experience (CX) control from institutions to customers entirely.
However, digital consumer expectations are not beyond satisfaction, at least not with the tremendous growth we are experiencing in the financial technology space. FinTechs like Codebase Technologies have developed omni-channel banking components that banks and financial institutions alike can plug into their existing systems to provide customers with the sustainable, engaging omni-channel journeys they are looking for.
What are Omnichannel Customer Journeys?
The simplest way to decode omnichannel customer journeys is to consider how most consumers use digital products. According to Statcounter, 56.49% of customers are currently on mobile phones, 41.11% on desktop computers, and 2.4% on tablets.
As an example, a customer’s journey may begin by interacting with mobile apps on a mobile phone, then switching to a desktop computer or tablet to browse and get more insights about the product or service of interest. They may then decide to engage with customer support through a chat on the platform, or hop on a call right from the website or mobile app. Eventually, they may decide to purchase online and pick up the product from the store or order for delivery offline.
Unifying all these interactions so that customers don’t feel the pain of transitioning from one channel to the other is the foundation of omnichannel customer journeys. It’s about creating a cohesive, cross-channel, customer-centric experience that gives customers the freedom to switch between channels or devices with minimal hassle.
From a banking perspective, omnichannel customer journeys could range from customer onboarding to making payments, applying for banking cards, etc. For instance, during onboarding, customers don’t have to enter all details explicitly. Banks can have a centralized database so that customers only enter their identity – name or customer ID, and the rest is prepopulated from a chosen database.
“Omnichannel” is simply an extension of “multi-channel”, with the key difference being how the channels are united to bring consistency and convenience to the end-user. Withdrawing the unifying aspect from the illustration above renders the case multi-channel.
Omnichannel Features Enabling Banks to Deliver Sustainable, Engaging Customer Journeys
Uniformity
Uniform CX across all touchpoints is the distinguishing strength of the omnichannel approach in banking. The seamless experience right from the first impression when installing the app, to the first and subsequent conversions when making purchases, largely comes down to how uniform the whole process is.
A McKinsey report shows that friction and frustrations, especially during the onboarding process, cause banks to lose up to 40% of their customers. Instead of adding more channels that still lack uniformity, the report suggests that banks should take a step back and rethink how their customers want to experience their banking journeys.
Personalized Experiences
It always feels great when you walk into a room and are greeted by your name. That’s precisely the same feeling digital consumers are yearning for. Integrating all digital banking channels to provide a personalized experience that makes customers feel recognized at a personal level is what most banks are lacking.
For instance, if a customer decides to engage with customer support on Facebook or any other social media channel, it should be easy to identify the customer and their previous engagements, even if it was years ago, without asking redundant, annoying questions. Similarly, implementing eKYC provides users with simple CX during and after onboarding as it leverages technologies such as AI, ML, and big data to automate customer verification and identity at all touchpoints.
Improved Customer Engagement
Statistics also show that 71% of customers do background research on their mobile phones before purchasing in-store. The same extends to banking; digital customers want consistent experiences right from onboarding to accessing different banking solutions across all channels. No wonder companies inclined to an omni-channel banking model have a whopping customer engagement rate of 89% compared to their counterparts, who only manage 33%.
Coordinated Sales Channels
The primary principle behind the omnichannel approach is interconnecting all customer touchpoints so that customers have the same experience regardless of the channel they use. For instance, the customer service team needs to be interconnected with the sales team to easily identify what products or services customers have used in the past so they can be effective in their duties.
Picture how disappointing it is to purchase a pretty impressive product online and then receive the complete opposite. Coordination helps avoid that. In a nutshell, digital customers just want banks to overcome the analog-to-digital hurdle that has existed now for the longest time and offer them a consistent experience.
Low Implementation Cost; Affordable Offerings to Customers
As we mentioned earlier, FinTechs have already capitalized on the technical part of omnichannel banking, so it’s just “plug and play” for financial institutions. The fact that Financial Institutions don’t have to build their systems from scratch, translates to low implementation costs while boosting CX. Features such as chatbots are evolving fast, and research shows that they can reduce operation costs by even 30%. This helps address customer concerns faster and more cost-effectively, which ultimately trickles down to consumers, allowing them to access sustainable, engaging, yet affordable financial services.
Multi-channel Good; Omnichannel The Way
Traditional banks have been using multi-channel customer journeys for the longest time to diversify ways in which they can interact with their customers. However, this has only worked partially; and banks have completely ignored how to adapt to the ever-changing customer expectations. On the other hand, the Omnichannel approach has strategically introduced cohesion across multiple channels to streamline how modern consumers expect to experience digital banking.
To accelerate to the dynamism in customer demands, banks and other financial institutions can integrate solutions such as Codebase Technologies Digibanc CX – Omnichannel Banking component, on top of their existing legacy systems to provide intuitive experiences that delight their customers and break growth boundaries in equal measure.
Tagged:
- africa, omnichannel
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Paul Nilsen, Managing Director Africa, CIS and Globa
Strategic business leader who has scaled local and international platforms managing teams and creating sustainable recurring revenue streams. Building long-lasting relationships and business processes, accessing technical expertise, sales skills, and consultative abilities.
