The Great Debate: Customer Experience vs. Customer Satisfaction: Which Wins?

While some claim that providing excellent customer experiences is the only way to earn repeat business, others feel that customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal. This has prompted a heated discussion in the corporate world: which party will win?

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at those concepts and explore their current impact on businesses. We’ll show you the differences between customer satisfaction and experience and how they both should fit into your eCommerce growth strategy.

Customer Satisfaction and Customer Experience

What is Customer Experience

Customer experience is the overall impression of a brand based on every interaction.

The customer experience incorporates all interactions between shoppers and companies, including marketing, sales, support, delivery, and post-purchase. An excellent customer experience leads to loyalty, while an awful one will drive buyers away or even ruin a firm.

What is Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is the measurement of how well a company’s product or service meets or exceeds expectations. 

Satisfaction illustrates how pleased consumers are with the product or service and how well it matched their needs, desires, and wishes. Client happiness gets them to leave great reviews, while a lack of satisfaction harms a company’s reputation and lowers profit.

10 Ways to Improve Customer Experience

1. Anticipate customer needs and proactively offer solutions
2. Follow up with customers after their purchase or interaction with your brand
3. Build a strong brand reputation by delivering consistent quality and value
4. Make it easy for customers to contact you
5. Personalize your interactions with customers
6. Identify and address pain points in the customer journey
7. Make it easy for customers to contact you
8. Use technology to enhance the customer experience
9. Show appreciation for customer loyalty
10. Continuously gather feedback from customers and react promptly

10 Ways to Improve Customer Satisfaction

1. Improve a product or service by changing one of its characteristics
2. Decrease the number of steps in the checkout process
3. Add a gift to the purchased product or service
4. Contact the customer after the purchase to check if you can help further
5. Decrease the delivery time by optimizing your inbound and outbound logistics
6. Improve the design of your eCommerce website or in-store interior
7. Introduce a 24/7 answering service
8. Add more payment options
9. Give more information before the purchase to eliminate negative surprises
10. Be more transparent about aspects the customer might dislike, such as transportation costs, taxes, ease of use, etc.

Customer Experience vs. Customer Satisfaction: What’s the Difference?

1. Customer experience refers to an entire perception of a brand or organization based on all encounters. Customer satisfaction is merely one component of the customer experience.
2. Customer satisfaction refers to how successfully a specific engagement with a firm met or exceeded a customer’s expectations, whereas customer experience refers to the sum of all interactions.
3. Customer experience includes the entire customer journey, while customer satisfaction focuses on a specific touchpoint.
4. Customer satisfaction gives objective data measurable by ratings or online surveys. Customer experience incorporates emotional components such as how consumers feel about their encounters with a firm.
5. Consumer experience includes variables such as brand perception, trust, loyalty, and consumer satisfaction – satisfaction is just one component of the customer experience.
6. Customer experience can be impacted by elements outside an individual’s control, such as the behavior of other buyers, while customer satisfaction depends solely on what they say or think.
7. Customer experience is often used as a long-term performance statistic. Customer satisfaction revolves around immediate outcomes.
8. Customer satisfaction can be quantified. The customer experience can not.
9. Improving the customer experience requires an all-encompassing approach over a longer time period. Increasing customer satisfaction is accomplished by making standalone alterations to specific interfaces.
10. For many businesses, customer experience is a strategic aim, whereas customer satisfaction is a tactical goal contributing to that overall plan.

All we said above can be presented as the table Customer Experience vs Satisfaction:

Data Analytics to Improve Customer Experience

Learning from mistakes is an excellent method of constant improvement, but it might be costly sometimes. Here are some of the most extreme examples:

• In 2016. Samsung lost over 14 billion dollars due to a battery error that caused their new Galaxy Note 7 to explode. The “mistake” could have been avoided if they had invested less than one million dollars to enhance quality control during manufacturing.
• Company Excite was the second-largest search engine in the world. In 1999, Larry Page, owner and founder of Google, offered Excite to buy his unknown company for $750.000. A lifetime mistake was made due to arrogance and a poor decision-making process based on it instead of using data and analytics.
• Kodak’s Failure to Innovate in Digital Photography: Kodak, once one of the world’s leading companies in photography, failed to adapt to the rise of digital photography. Despite inventing the first digital camera in 1975, Kodak did not embrace the digital revolution. It continued to focus on traditional film products, missing out on the opportunity to dominate the digital photography market. The lack of data-based decisions and analytical forecasting once the industry giant announced bankruptcy in 2012.

By learning from mistakes others made and leveraging statistical metrics and data analytics tools, you will make better-informed decisions, improve customer experiences ecosystem, and drive long-term growth. 

We give you 10 most important eCommerce latest statistics about customer experience and satisfaction to help you make better decisions and create data-based development strategies.

10 Important Statistics About Customer Satisfaction

1. In the US, an estimated 52% of customers have switched brands due to poor customer service. (Zendesk)
2. Customers who have a positive experience with a brand are 3.5 times more likely to repurchase from that brand. (Qualtrics)
3. 77% of customers view brands more favorably if they seek out and apply customer feedback. (Microsoft)
4. Hubspot’s eCommerce competitive analysis showed that companies with high customer satisfaction scores outperform their competitors by 20%.
5. A 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-95% increase in profits. (Harvard Business Review)
6. Satisfied customers tell an average of 4-6 people about their positive experience. On the other hand, dissatisfied customers tell an average of 9-15 people about their negative experience. (American Express)
7. 91% of unhappy customers will never return to do business with a company after a poor experience. (NewVoiceMedia)
8. For every customer complaint a company receives, there are approximately 26 other unhappy customers who remain silent. (White House Office of Consumer Affairs)
9. It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience. (Ruby Newell-Legner)
10. Improving customer satisfaction by just 1% can lead to a $1 billion increase in revenue for some companies. (Temkin Group)

10 Important Statistics About Customer Experience

1. Customers who have a positive experience with a brand are 3.5 times more likely to repurchase from that brand. (Qualtrics)
2. 53% of customers are likely to leave a negative review after a bad experience, while only 30% are likely to leave a positive review after a good experience. (Review Trackers)
3. Companies that prioritize customer experience are 60% more profitable than companies that don’t. (Deloitte)
4. 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. (SuperOffice)
5. 80% of customers say they are more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences. (Epsilon)
6. Companies that prioritize customer experience see a 5-7% increase in customer retention rates. (Tempkin Group)
7. 73% of customers say that a good experience is key in influencing their brand loyalties. (PwC)
8. 86% of customers will pay more for a better experience. (RightNow)
9. A report by Temkin Group found that companies that earn $1 billion annually can expect to earn, on average, an additional $700 million within 3 years of investing in customer experience.
10. 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated, as per McKinsey & Company.

Are these numbers enough to convince you that spending money on customer experience and satisfaction is a wise investment?

Outsourcing as the Ultimate Strategy to Improve Customer Satisfaction and Experience

During the past five years, the industry of outsourcing companies has been rapidly growing. A pool of talented and experienced professionals provides quick and efficient support to your customers. Your customers will be able to get their queries effectively and instantly resolved, leading to higher satisfaction levels.
Another benefit you’ll experience when outsourcing customer support services is round-the-clock support to your buyers. Your customers will always have someone to turn to if they face any issues or questions. Accessibility and availability are expected, and it’s necessary for building trust and credibility with your customers.
The greatest advantage is cost saving and growth potential from the surplus of money and experienced personnel. Not only will you eliminate hiring and training new staff, but you’ll also have a pool of highly-trained professionals to distribute to marketing and sales.

How to Use Data to Improve Customer Experience

Here are the steps you should follow to use data and improve the customer experience:

1. Collect relevant data- from various sources, such as customer feedback, website analytics, and social media platforms gain insights into customer behaviors, preferences, and experiences.
2. Analyze data to identify trends- gather historical data about customer behavior and preferences.
3. Use predictive modeling- forecast customer behavior and preferences, anticipate needs and desires.
4. Learn from others’ mistakes and best practices- spend the same amount of time exploring good and bad examples as you spent gathering and analyzing the data collected by yourself.
5. Personalize interactions- provide more relevant and customized experiences.
6. Optimize customer journeys: identify pain points in a customer journey and take action to optimize each segment.

Technology to Improve Customer Experience

Technology has revolutionized how businesses interact with customers, making it easier to improve the customer experience, reduce wait times, and increase customer satisfaction, thus driving loyalty, repeat purchases, and long-term growth. 

Here are some ways technology can be used to improve the customer experience:

1. Chatbots and AI: Chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) can provide immediate customer assistance 24/7. They handle basic customer queries, reducing wait times and improving customer satisfaction.
2. Mobile apps: Mobile apps provide customers with a seamless experience, allowing them to access services and products on the go, make orders, and track their purchases.
3. Self-service technology enables customers to perform various functions, such as making payments and updating personal information, without interacting with a customer service representative.
4. Social media platforms help businesses to engage with customers in real time, addressing concerns and responding to feedback.
5. Big data analytics provide insights into customer behavior and preferences to understand customer needs better and optimize customer journeys.

TrackMage to Improve Customer Experience and Satisfaction

TrackMage is a powerful tool that improves customer experience and satisfaction by providing real-time tracking information to your customers. With TrackMage, you will achieve effective eCommerce order management by streamlining order fulfillment processes and automating many repetitive, manual tasks. The results are higher efficiency, fewer errors, and a better customer experience and satisfaction.

TrackMage:

• Helps you keep your customers informed about the status of their purchases, from the moment they are shipped to when they arrive at the customer’s doorstep.
• You provide detailed tracking information, such as the location of the package, estimated delivery times, and any shipping delays. Customers will be much less anxious and happy to be able to plan their day and eliminate nervous waiting. Customers receive tracking updates via email or SMS, ensuring they are always up-to-date on the progress of their delivery.
• Integrates with your website, so buyers will not leave it. The significant side effect is increased engagement time, leading to a higher SEO ranking.
• Empowers your brand. All notifications can be branded. Your logo and the recognizable visual characteristics of your company will deepen brand awareness.
• Utilizes proven upselling possibilities, reminding customers about other great offers you have for them. 

The best thing is that TrackMage has a free trial to show you all the benefits of investing in customers’ experience and satisfaction.