MAZ marks the second phase of its 2023 Superbrand research process
The unveiling of the Top 200 brands by the Marketers Association of Zimbabwe culminates in the Superbrand Awards at year-end.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
SA customer experience levels continued their decline during Covid
By our News Team | 2021
The Ask Afrika Orange Index released last week shows digital channels now rate higher than human channels for satisfaction.
Over the past five years, customer experience service levels continued to decline in South Africa, as did customer loyalty towards brands.
This is according to the 2021 Ask Afrika Orange Index, a benchmark that tracks customer experience and the changing trends and expectations of customers. It provides customer experience and service scores across 31 industries and 200 individual brands.
A total of 19 986 South Africans were interviewed during May to July 2021 to establish which companies provide the best customer experience in the country.
The decline in customer experience is on both the emotional and service-related components of the experience, the researchers found. Customers’ emotional satisfaction decreased by two points, while service satisfaction decreased by a single point.
Customers are looking for emotional connections with brands. The results show that emotional satisfaction has double the impact on customer loyalty that service satisfaction has. According to Ask Africa, this is unsurprising since consumers across the globe, including
Photo by Icons-8 team @ Unsplash
African citizens, live in a constantly changing society on a macro- and micro-level. Citizens experienced lack of trust, fear of the unknown and loneliness on higher levels during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Digital channels rated higher than human channels
Trust is the top customer loyalty driver in South Africa, followed by reputation and relationship. On the flipside, the biggest detractors from customer loyalty are a lack of value for money, first-call resolution and high customer effort.
The impact of lockdown gave businesses no choice but to increase their digital interaction, engagement and service, says the report. The results showed that the experiences when engaging with digital channels – such as apps and websites – are better than when customers engaged with human interaction channels (call centre, branch or store). The exception is when customers have a complaint to lodge.
Source: Ask Afrika
Proud and Passionate. Meet the consumers of North Africa
While culture and history still permeate the North African consumer experience, it is also a region undergoing a dramatic evolution.
Massmart using Walmart-inspired tech to improve the online experience
Company says order-fulfilment software from the US digitises and optimises the picking, packing, staging and distribution of online orders.
How supermarket price promotions can impact demand for other items
Placing goods that are not on promotion next to ones that are being discounted can have both positive and negative effects.
Tanzanian satellite-based money transfer system may be ‘game changer’
AzamPesa mobile money wallet set to close the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of access to financial products and solutions?
Insurer launches fun campaign to stop the scourge of ‘hold music’
Survey finds people spend a month of their lives waiting for call centre agents to pick up. So insurer unveils ‘#StopHoldMusic’ campaign.
The ‘magic sauce’ that will define the top brands of tomorrow
Top brands of the future will not be focused on the products they sell, but rather on serving an ecosystem of stakeholder needs.
YouTube ad revenue set to power ahead in 2023 after 2022 slowdown
Growth is expected to resume in 2023 at more than double the rate of last year, with the retail sector being the biggest spender.
Targeting young tech-heads? Perhaps NFTs are the way to go?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are usually associated with celebrities and market volatility. But there is untapped potential for marketers.
Despite Afro-optimism, African brands are less admired than before
Annual Brand Africa study shows the continent’s brands are losing ground to their international counterparts.
French supermarket chain to grow African presence and enter Algeria
Auchan – a competitor to Carrefour – will make Algeria its fifth market on the African continent later this year.