3021: Global CX Trends with Contentsquare: Personalization, Privacy, and Omnichannel

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_01]: What does it take to deliver a seamless digital experience in a world where 41% of website

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_01]: visits still encounter friction?

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And I suspect you've felt some of that frustration on your own browsing sessions, and despite

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: years of advancements in technology, we're still getting those problems.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_01]: So today I'm joined by Jean Christophe, or JC as his friends call him, he's the

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_01]: leader in digital experience analytics, and Content Square is at the forefront of helping

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_01]: companies understand and optimize user behaviour across web and mobile platforms.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And they're serving over 1300 enterprise customers and 1.3 million SMB websites around

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_01]: the world.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And my guest today brings a wealth of expertise into the latest trends in customer experience,

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: particularly in how AI is transforming the way that we all interact with technology.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_01]: So in this conversation today, we're going to explore how AI is placing a crucial role

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_01]: in enhancing customer experiences, from sentiment analysis and virtual assistance to personalised

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_01]: content creation.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And we'll also delve into the human challenges of building a customer experience-centred

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: organisation, and the ongoing battle between personalisation that we expect to standard,

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and also privacy that we also expect to standard, and why a mobile-first approach

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: is more important than ever, with 70% of web traffic now originating from mobile devices.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: How can companies strike the right balance between innovation and customer satisfaction

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in an increasingly complex digital landscape?

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Delivering daily content to 140,000 of you wonderful monthly listeners across the globe

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_01]: is no small feat.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to take all the credit here because it wouldn't be possible without

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: the backing of our dedicated sponsors and partners.

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[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for your patience today.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_01]: This is the moment you've been waiting for.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: It's time to welcome my guest onto the show.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's time for me to take your ears on a little field trip all the way to New York

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: City where my guest is waiting to join us today.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So a massive warm welcome to the show.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Can you tell everyone listening a little bit who you are and what you do?

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Neil and thanks for the invitation.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jean-Christophe Pithier.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: You can call me JC.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's probably easier.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I am the chief marketing and partner officer at Content Square.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I joined a year ago, almost a year ago last October and after spending more than two decades

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: at Microsoft.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And as a fun fact, I'm saying that because I was an avid customer of Content Square

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: at Microsoft and I finally decided to join this small club because I love so much

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: new product.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I lived 10 years in Seattle on the West Coast with my three boys and now I'm back

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: in Paris and New York where our company is at Quarters in the US.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Some information on Content Square.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: We are a not in one digital experience analytics platform across web and mobile.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So it means our goal is really to help customers, enterprise, small business customers to improve

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: conversion, retention and customer journeys.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So basically what does that mean?

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: We want our platform analytics platforms to reveal the behavior, intent, feeling

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: of users when they are browsing on your websites or mobile apps.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And so how do we do that?

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: We collect trillions of data points anonymized, of course, from the websites,

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: mobile apps you use and we see where you click, where you swipe, where you type,

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: where you scroll and so on and so on.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And then we can identify your customer experience, the frictions on your journey,

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: what content you like, etc.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The company has about 1300 enterprise brands working for us, mostly retailers,

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: luxury brands and we probably come back to that.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And we have 1.3 million SMB and smaller websites across more than 100 countries.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And some brands maybe I can use, I think it's important, based in the UK,

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: well, Azix, Gold Maxx, Royal Bank of Scotland, really tall, it's a brand

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's very present in the UK.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Nicely, I can keep going.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It gives you an idea of the types of customers we have.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And we are Scallop.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So we've been funded in France by Jonathan Cherki,

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was almost 12 years ago.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And as I said, we are sitting in more than 100 countries

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and we have offices in 12 countries.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I can only imagine just how busy you are spending so many different plates

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: because we're recording this on the day of your live event in New York.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: For people listening around the world that can't attend,

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_01]: what are they missing out on?

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: What's going on there today?

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, thanks, Neil.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We are very excited to be live in New York.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's our biggest flagship event.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We are expecting more than 1,000 attendees in our beautiful glass house building

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: in New York.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And the theme this time is going to be around level up your CX games.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So really how do you level up with your customer experience?

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to have great testimonies from customers,

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: our product experts, we're going to talk about AI of course.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So very, very excited.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, the speed of technological change is moving at such a breakneck speed at the moment.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So many conversations.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, there's a lot about AI, etc.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: But I'm curious from all those conversations you're having

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: with 1.2, 1.3 million customers around the world,

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: what are the key trends that you're seeing shaping the future

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: of things like the customer experience in the digital retail space?

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Because it feels almost like a gold rush of sorts.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of opportunities here.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think you're spot on.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of opportunities and I used to think someone said,

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: someone said, we feel like everything is changing, but nothing is changing.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And what I mean by that is that every company has been going

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: through a profound transformation this past 25 years,

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: digital transformation, blah, blah, blah.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: We've heard a lot about it.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But at the end of the day, customers, you, me, what we still want,

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: we want the best customer experience when we interact with a brand.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: That has not changed.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The tech tools we use and means devices have changed,

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: but not what we really want, which is the best customer experience

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and an emotional connection.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And so now if you go deeper beyond that, what do you see?

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: We see four big trends which are shaping the future for the customer experience.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: One, and I'm sure we're going to come back to it later,

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: but customers want personalization at scale.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: We've been talking a lot about it,

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: but we also see more demand for privacy.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And this one is a very interesting conundrum for the brands to solve.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: More personalization, more privacy.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: There is another one which, again, talked about a lot.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Omnichannel integration, what we call sometimes seamless cross-channel experience.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: You expect a consistent experience across devices, online, in-store,

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: social media and so on when you interact with a brand.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be the second one.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Third one, of course, and you mentioned it,

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: is AI and how AI is going to change and power new customer experiences

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and remove frictions and make you more efficient.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, I will say I would add the fourth one

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: because I think this one, we've been talking about it for the last 15 years,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's still happening as we talk.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It's mobile, mobile first.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: We are at the point, our data showed us,

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that 70% of all web traffic now comes from mobile worldwide.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we still see mobile coming,

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: but we also see the patterns are different by geographies.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The experience on mobile is not great, as we all know.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So mobile is still a massive trend that enterprises and customers are going through.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_01]: So many big changes.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I recently wrote an article after finding a stat that despite all the advances in AI

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and technology and all these different communication tools,

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: customer service experience scores are currently at the lowest since 1976,

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: which completely blew my mind.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe our expectations are much, much higher now.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_01]: That might have something to do with it.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned that battle between personalization and privacy,

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_01]: which is a delicate balance on its own.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: But can you elaborate on the cost of this online frustration that we have as users,

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_01]: how that impacts brands and also how our customer experience

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: impacts a brand's ultimate bottom line and reputation?

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Because there's so much going on here too, right?

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you're right.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a broad topic.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'll try to be crisp.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say what we call in the industry,

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: in the customer experience industry,

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: what we call frustration is really a more technical piece.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Like you're trying to do an action and it's not working.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, you're clicking on a place my order and it's not working.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: It just won't work.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's what we see.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And the most common frustration we see across all these customers we have is

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: we have slow load times, of course.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So speed is still very important.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: We see red clicks.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not working.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: What we call a red click is when you click three times in two seconds

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: on a page or a button or an action and it's not working.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And then we have what we call technically JavaScript errors.

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_00]: That's technical errors which prevent you to achieve what you want.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And this frustration, believe it or not,

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: out of the trillions of interactions we have and we monitor,

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: we see that 41% of visits are still impacted by some frustration,

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: level of frustration.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So you could look at it glass half full.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It means three out of five, 60% of our experiences are flawless or friction free,

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: which is pretty high.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But you could say, hey, still in 2024, we still have 41% of customers who are visits,

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_00]: which our customers will describe as we feel frustration.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I think if I go back to your point about what's the impact

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: of having a poor customer experience now we define a frustration.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say I would categorize it into three things.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Financial impact on customer loyalty and a brand,

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: your brand and a perception and an image.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Think revenue loss is obvious.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: If customers leave your website,

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: customer abandonment, blah, blah, blah,

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: it impacts your top line.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: You also wasted money.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_00]: You invested in paid search or paid social to attract customer to your website.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And if they don't convert, if they don't transact,

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_00]: that's loss that impacts your bottom line.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: You spend money for nothing.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So this one is pretty obvious.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The second one is customer loyalty and retention.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, yes, if you don't have a great experience,

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: you're unlikely to come back.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this one is especially important now

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: because I don't know if you've seen on your webcast

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_00]: that the cost of acquisition online had been going up for the last five or six years.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I think last year it was 9%.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So it costs you more to acquire a digital customer.

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's why it's even more important

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: to make sure customers visiting you, they stay and they transact.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And the third one obviously is the brand,

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the brand perception and impact.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Customer expectations are rising.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The bar is always rising.

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_00]: There's no final destination.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of a journey.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And so you have to make sure you deliver according to the expectations.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And we see that brand perception is very important.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: We see it outspurts customers' industry, I would say.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: At Content Square, we're really retailers.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Retailers and e-commerce companies,

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: they wanted to improve their commercial rights.

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But the second-largest industry now is luxury brands.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And for luxury brands, it's not so much about sales online.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really about customer experience,

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: your brand, seeing your products in a very friction-free, smooth-flesed way.

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's why.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So they see the experience online as being very, very important.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: So many important points there, especially around the cost

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_01]: of acquiring new customers against retaining an existing customer.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: It's something we don't talk about enough.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And obviously AI is the flavor of the month or maybe year.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm curious.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you at Content Square leveraging AI to help enhance customer experiences?

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Because we will have a lot of people listening.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe they're sat on that fence thinking,

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_01]: well, what does AI mean to us and what should we be doing next?

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So just to bring it to life.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any examples of how AI-driven insights

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: can better transform digital interactions?

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: What do you see in here?

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't have a tech discussion if we don't talk about AI today.

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So yes, of course, we've been thinking a lot about AI for the last 24 months.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I think our approach has been very much about, hey, let's go beyond the hype

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_00]: or the bubbly aspect of AI we are currently going through.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And let's say, hey, it's a fantastic technology.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: How can it change our user experience or customer experience?

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So we've been very much focused about what we call practical AI.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's make it centered around the user.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we just announced a couple of innovations,

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: just to give you one or two concrete examples.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: We just announced in London, by the way, three months ago,

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: we just announced our summer innovations.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, we have what we call sentiment analysis

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and customer feedback processing.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So customers give you feedback about their experience.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You do NPS surveys and so on.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And so for AI, you can summarize the server users.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You can even generate surveys and polls almost automatically.

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty impressive.

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's how we make the life of our users and customers easier.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We also just launched...

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: This one is very impressive.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm about to do a demo at one point.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We just launched a virtual assistant, a copilot,

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: which is behind it.

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's OpenAI and GPD.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: But basically you can ask your questions in natural language like,

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: hey, can you show me the traffic trend for the last two years

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and break it down by countries?

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And then automatically, content square and the tool will give you the answer.

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_00]: This natural language, it will automatically generate titles.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So again, you get the idea.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really to make sure we simplify your life

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and we make you more efficient.

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I can even see a world.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're doing today.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We are also exploring, thinking more long term like,

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: hey, and we talked a little bit about personalization.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow, can we have a website which is personalized by user?

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Each user pays on who he is, what he's doing, his context.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Can he has a different experience on the website?

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Can we do a dynamic and content generation based on each user?

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And so our tool, AI and our tools and data at one point

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_00]: should enable us maybe to do that.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So here I'm going more looking forward,

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: but just to give you an idea of what we're working on and thinking about.

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And something else that put you on my radar

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: while I was excited to get you on the podcast today

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_01]: was your work on the content square digital experience benchmark reports.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to ask from your work on that,

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_01]: what were the most surprising findings about the current state of digital retail?

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Was there anything that surprised you in that?

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And how can businesses use that data to improve their strategies?

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Because I would imagine that you've seen most things before

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and you know those trends inside out,

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_01]: but was there anything that really did take you by surprise?

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, yes.

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of.

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the key word is surprise as you said,

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_00]: but yes, some of them just for the listeners.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Our benchmark is an annual survey we do on all these websites we have.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: We have 43 billion sessions and 200 billion pages.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We analyze this across 36 hundred websites.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So that gives you a good proxy of what's happening on the internet.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: But to come back to your question, surprise findings.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say, I think we talked about it, but for me the fact that 40% of site visits

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: are not delivering a great experience.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: There's still a frictions.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're in 2024.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm an old guy, not old.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't think I'm old, but I've been in the business for 25 years.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about the internet started in 1999 was the first web.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So how come like 40% of experiences are still not at the right level of expectation?

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I think for me, it's still a surprise.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Another one, which is you have to trust the data.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_00]: What we see is like paid search.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_00]: We've been talking about paid search and paid social media to attract new users,

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_00]: but paid search is still king despite everything we said about social media.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And to be more specific, what we see is like paid search attracts

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but more.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And when I say paid search, I hope it's clear.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It's people going on Google, for example, or Bing and doing queries to say about a product.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And people versus paid media and displaying paid media and social networks.

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And the traffic from paid search visitors on our customer website,

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: it converts four times more than paid social.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So it just tells you paid social media has a role, of course,

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but paid search for conversion and e-commerce is still king.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And probably the last one, being an international citizen, French living in the US,

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: living in Singapore.

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a bit of cliche about internet, web, it's kind of universal everywhere,

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: but some cultural differences, some cliches are very stubborn.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And just to give you an idea for your code, and it's funny we see it.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: The Germans, they would read all the terms and conditions.

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_00]: There are the country which are going to scroll down all the way down to the webpages.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_00]: They're the only countries doing that.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The French would be more frustrated more quickly.

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying grumpy, but probably that's where they are in Asia.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And we all know that it's only about mobile.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's still surprising to see.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We think it's cliche, but there is some truth behind it.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And we see it in the data, in our data.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm curious, in your view of everything that you've seen,

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: all the conversations you had,

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: what are the biggest challenges facing online retailers today?

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Especially when it comes to customer experience and equally user experience as well for

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: the consumers, which we all are.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we briefly touched upon it.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I do believe customer retention, biggest challenges and opportunities

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_00]: retaining your customer or your visitor if it's not yet a customer,

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: given what we said about acquiring cost of traffic and acquiring new customers.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And we all know it's a business and we love to talk about customer lifetime value

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and its combination of new customers, how much you sell, what's the price

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and how you can sell to them.

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And then it's also how much you can retain them.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why it's so important.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think everything we said before, like making sure you can deliver

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_00]: this great experience consistent across website, mobile, wherever customers are,

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_00]: anywhere, anytime on any device is still critical.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And to do that, that's more an internal thing.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: What we realize is you need inside your enterprise, your company,

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_00]: you need to build the teams, you need to build a culture,

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: you need to build the processes and tools that enable you to do that.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: To have this learning culture where you learn, you look at data,

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_00]: you take action, you iterate fast, you're curious.

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And as I said, it's a journey.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It never ends.

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Customer, it's changing.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Tech is changing, but also customer expectations are rising every day.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think for me, that's probably the two biggest challenge,

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: building the culture and teams that support that and making sure you can

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_00]: retail and delight your customers.

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I think another challenge, which we also alluded to earlier,

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_01]: was that balance between privacy and personalization.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And for the large part, I think we all expect personalization is standard now.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Netflix knows what we want to watch.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Spotify knows what we want to listen to.

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And Amazon knows what we want to buy.

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So we carry that expectation with us everywhere.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_01]: How do you see that role of personalization continuing to evolve in

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_01]: digital customer experiences?

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Are there any effective strategies for brands listening that they can

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_01]: help them personalize interactions at scale without drifting into creepy territory?

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You said the key part is, before going into some trends,

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: we are saying I think balancing personalization and data privacy

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and protecting your data is the act.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think every company I'm talking to,

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: anyone else including us, we're struggling to do that.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And customer is interesting.

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think we're all talking from both sides of our mouth,

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: if I can say that.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We're being very human beings here as consumers,

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_00]: striking this balance by geography with different rules is an interesting one.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But I'd put that aside, but I want to keep that in mind because I think

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: that's really at the heart of most of the discussion we're having.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But otherwise on personalization, assuming you can find the right,

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: strike this right balance,

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say you need a very strong data platform.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We vote data is just another opinion.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So you need data on what your customer segments and so on and so on.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: AI, we talked about it.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_00]: AI is going to be a massive boost and disruption in the way we

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: were doing personalization.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I talked about some of the way we talked about AI.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And beyond AI, it's even thinking about like,

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_00]: how do I connect the different silos in the enterprise?

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And AI can help like, hey, there's nothing worse, for example,

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: to receive an automated email asking you for satisfaction.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So for a product you did buy, but you also did return the next day.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's where AI can really help.

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I talked about it also dynamic content on the website.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: If we're able to personalize more and more content tailor to your needs,

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_00]: that would be great.

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: But also, and that's where again, customers are balancing out.

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You want personalization, but you also want to be able to discover new things.

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't want to show always the same content.

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know for you, but I'll Spotify and Netflix.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I hate it when I see always the same kind of movies.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I want to be free to explore and see different things.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So there is also balancing act.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a bit of it.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I want personalized content that don't box me.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So I can keep going, but I think that AI, leveraging data driven insights,

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: being very dynamic content, and I go back to the culture,

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: building this culture.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think we know.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: We can't be know at all.

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think being curious, listening, having this learning culture,

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: A B tasting and so on.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_00]: This book is a foundation for all of that.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, 100% with you.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I think those magical moments of serendipity where you stumble across

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_01]: something that you shouldn't like, but just kind of capture something in you.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm very much like that with entertainment, whether it be films, books or music.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't just want to be spoon fed the same again and again and again.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: There's no fun in that at all.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Looking forward again, I mean, given your background with Microsoft and obviously now

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Content Square, have you seen the approach to digital customer experience evolve over the years?

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Have there been any major shifts that have stood out to you?

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, of course plenty.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say probably the biggest shift for me has been how the expectation and the way

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_00]: consumer content or buy is different between regions.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, it's mostly North America, Europe and Asia.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's been interesting to see how it's been converging and diverging, do you say?

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Splitting in the same way.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course everyone cares about pricing, low prices, convenience,

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: omni-channel, et cetera, et cetera we talked about.

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But let me give you some specific examples.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, in Europe, the focus on sustainability.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00]: European customers and consumers, they place a strong emphasis on sustainability

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and ethical practices.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: They are running demand for more eco-friendly products,

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_00]: transparency and so on and so on.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very clear in Europe.

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not as big, it's happening, but it's not as big in the rest of the world.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Privacy also is probably much more important in Europe than in the rest of the world.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: If you look at China, I think China has been fascinating for the last 10 years.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's totally a mobile first commerce region.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: All the major innovations are happening in China,

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: but some of them are only staying in China thinking about live stream shopping.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It's fascinating to see our social commerce.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: They are very highly popular.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think they're really too coffee in the rest of the world like in China.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_00]: In the US, if I have to pick one,

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: US is probably more about convenience and speed,

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: even more important than the rest of the world.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: It's important for everyone, but the rest of the world.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: That's in the US that Amazon invented,

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Sunday delivery subscription coming.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: In the US, the value of convenience and speed.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_00]: For me, seeing how as a company being able to see this same pattern sometimes,

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_00]: also diverging needs is fascinating.

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It's also another challenge.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Love that.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_01]: For everyone listening, I always try and finish the podcast

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_01]: by giving them a valuable takeaway,

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_01]: something they can action or something useful that they can use.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So for any business leader listening that they're looking

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and trying to stay ahead in this competitive digital landscape,

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_01]: what would you say are the essential steps that they should take to

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: optimize their customer experience while also reducing online frustration

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and getting that balance right?

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Any tips that you would offer them?

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Can I say good?

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_00]: contentsquare.com, my own product.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: But joke aside, we are a small part, but important part of it.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Joke aside, I think for me, it's all about thinking about it.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know that it's all about people, processes, and tools.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about it, but building a culture, this learning culture,

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: where a customer is experiencing at the center of your goals, how you work.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: This learning and testing culture is critical.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The processes to support this culture and knowing it's a journey,

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_00]: not a destination, you will never arrive on customer experience.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So you have to stay very humble.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, we talk about the tools.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think on the tools, as much as we love data and I love data,

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: it's also an art and a science.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: You need the science part.

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: You need all this data, but they are still an art.

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So in selling or having or engaging with customers,

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: there's still an art piece.

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's why you need quantitative and qualitative feedback.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so again, it's a balancing act between people, processes,

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and these tools you have.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So that would be my nugget of wisdom.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Love it.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not going to stop there as well.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I always like to have a bit of fun with my guests

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and ask them to leave one final gift.

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: One final gift of insight for everyone listening.

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is either a song to add to our Spotify playlist,

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_01]: can be anything at all.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Guilty pleasures are allowed.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I will add that to a Spotify playlist or a book

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to add to an Amazon wishlist that you would recommend.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't mind which, but what would you like to leave everyone with and why?

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm an AT, I'm an avid music listener,

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm an avid Depeche Mode fan.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So I would say I really love Just Can't Get Enough.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I love it personally, but you know, you can't get enough data,

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: you can't get enough insight.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's unintended.

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_01]: What a great choice.

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to add it straight to the Spotify playlist.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Everyone listening, wanting to find out more about Content Square

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and find out more about you, your team,

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_01]: or anything we talked about today, including that report.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Where would you like to point everyone listening?

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Love www.contentsquare.com.

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'll add the link to everything that you've mentioned there,

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_01]: including the flagship event where people can maybe follow online.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But everyone listening, I think I for one have enjoyed talking with you today

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: and learning about the customer experience latest trends,

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_01]: the role of AI in good customer experience

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and some of the human challenges behind this, a CX-centered organization.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I love people listening to share their insights on what they thought

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and how they're battling with some of the challenges that you mentioned.

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_01]: But thank you for starting this conversation today.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Neil.

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So as we wrap up our conversation with JC today,

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I think several important insights have emerged.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: The digital customer experience landscape is evolving rapidly.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Yet challenges like friction that cause frustration during user interactions

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and balancing personalization with privacy all remain significant.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And yes, AI offers promising solutions from refining sentiment analysis

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: to creating dynamic and personalized content.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's clear that that human element to building a customer-centric culture

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and understanding the nuances of global markets,

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_01]: these are the things that equally play a crucial role

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_01]: in delivering outstanding customer experiences.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So if we reflect on today's discussion,

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to consider how your organization is approaching customer experience.

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you going to leverage AI to remove friction and personalize interactions?

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you going to address the growing importance of privacy?

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So as we move forward, I think these questions will be essential

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: in navigating the future of customer experiences.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's something we all need to learn from each other.

[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So don't try and do it on your own, please.

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Share with me your insights, the lessons that you have learned along the way too.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So as always, email me techblogwriteratlook.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram,

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_01]: just that and they'll see yous.

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Please continue the conversation with me.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to come on here or have a question you'd like to ask me,

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_01]: you can do all that stuff too.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_01]: But thank you for joining me today on this deep dive into the

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_01]: latest trends and challenges in CX.

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And I hope you've gained valuable insights

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_01]: to help you elevate your own customer experiences.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01]: But let me know.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It's time for me to get out of here now though.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'll return into your podcast feed bright and early tomorrow morning.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully, I will speak to each and every one of you again.

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_01]: See you all in the morning.