Insights
The 3 Ways Customer Experience Will Change in 2022
With the New Year upon us, we begin to look forward to seeing what lies ahead and what changes to expect. Following these unprecedented times, we have already seen dramatic changes to customer experience and its role within organisations, but what comes next?
The Rise of the Metaverse
At the end of 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and its other siblings such as WhatsApp were getting a new umbrella name: Meta, as a reference to the company’s shifting focus to the Metaverse.
According to USA Today, the Metaverse will be “an online virtual world which incorporates augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), 3D holographic avatars, video, and other means of communication.” Whilst this is enough to forecast a seismic shift in customer experience, Bloomberg predicts that the market size of the Metaverse could hit 800 billion by 2024.
Whilst online shopping became essential during the pandemic, the customer experience will be taken to another level once audiences can use their avatar and to shop and try products out online.
Automated Customer Service
At the heart of a great customer experience is customer service. Being connected directly to well-trained advisors that can resolve queries is the backbone of retaining customers.
Whilst automated call services have been introduced, the lack of human interaction comes at a cost to your customer experience.
Now, AI customer chatbots are using natural language processing (NLP) in order to increase the overall service. Aiming to increasingly improve its understanding, the AI registers users input and predicts the correct response.
Similar to voice assistants like Alexa, which now occupy many homes, huge corporations such as McDonald’s are looking at incorporating voice assistants at drive-throughs. Further developments of automated customer service is a given next year, as sentiment analytics will be used to develop context within written and spoken communications in order to improve the technology for consumers.
AR and VR Marketing
It’s not just Meta that are set to utilise Virtual Reality in the near future. VR is set to potentially generate as much as $1.8 billion for retail and marketing companies next year.
This is down to the technology’s ability to attract new customers, drive sales and reduce returns as the platform gives customers the opportunity to try on products before they purchase them.
By showcasing 3D products, shoppers can have their purchase choices reaffirmed and shop with confidence. AR also offers the benefits of in-person shopping as Avatars can still interact with staff and other customers.
