Poor customer experiences costing businesses up to $216 billion in India, says Qualtrics study

Nearly all consumers in India (96%) said they were dissatisfied with their experiences as customers in 2021, according to the Qualtrics 2022 Global Consumer Trends report launched today. This could be costing businesses up to US $216 billion in India, with a third of respondents saying they have cut spending after a poor customer experience^[1].

Customer service support was the most common area consumers wanted businesses to improve, followed by prices and fees. Improving communications and online resources were also called out for improvement. Three-quarters of respondents said businesses need to care more about them (74%) and get better at listening to their feedback (72%).

Some 81% of respondents said they would spend more with a company if they were treated better. The value of experience is further highlighted by additional research from the Qualtrics XM Institute, which found consumers in India are twice as likely to re-purchase, trust, and recommend a company after a positive customer experience. A third of respondents (34%) said they have cut spending after a poor customer experience.

It's not just the consumer businesses need to worry about in 2022

Employee experience will be important in attracting, retaining, and developing talent next year, with two-thirds of respondents (63%) in India saying they intend to stay in their current job through 2022, according to Qualtrics research. With a third of employees on the move, and 64% of employers forecasting an increase in payrolls - according to the ManPowerGroup Employment Outlook survey - businesses will need to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive job market.

"As organizations across India accelerate their digital capabilities, addressing the disconnect between what customers and employees want and what's actually being delivered must be prioritized. Experience is now critical to every function and department, and those companies that rapidly embark on journeys to transform the experiences they deliver in order to meet current and evolving needs are set to win an outsized share of the market," said Navneet Narula, Country Manager for India, Qualtrics.

"By continually listening and taking action on what matters to customers and employees, businesses can address the macroeconomic challenges they're currently facing - such as talent shortages, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs - in a sustainable and meaningful way.

"As we look ahead to 2022 in India, Qualtrics is focused on working with organizations of all sizes - from start-ups to large enterprises - to help accelerate and optimize their adoption of digital technologies, equipping them with the tools, services, and support helping deliver world-class customer, employee, brand, and product experiences," said Narula

Iconic Businesses Succeed with Qualtrics

To deliver the new and improved customer and employee experiences people now expect, leading organizations are turning to Qualtrics to deliver new and enhanced customer, employee, brand, and product experiences.

One of the most essential steps Myntra - India's leading e-commerce destination for fashion and lifestyle products - took to support and enable its employees throughout the pandemic was using Qualtrics EmployeeXM™ in order to continually listen, understand, and act on the needs of the company's people. With frequent insights into the company's employee experience, Myntra was able to rapidly and confidently implement tailored initiatives and programs in response to people's direct feedback, including new hybrid policies, home office reimbursements, medical assistance, and an extension of its employee assistance programs to include families.

"When the pandemic hit, and people moved to working from home, employees were telling us it felt like the boundaries between their work and home life were starting to blur. In this new reality, we knew mental well-being was critical and cultivating a feeling of belonging even though teams were working remotely was imperative," says Sneha Arora, Vice President of Human Capital at Myntra. We were clear from the beginning that we needed to increase the frequency of communications, whether it was through town halls or online forums. The engagement tool from Qualtrics is fundamental in helping us regularly gather feedback from our employees and immediately and confidently act on it, with the insights captured helping guide the actions we take."

New product innovations and investments

In response to the growing demand for its XM technologies across the Asia Pacific and Japan, Qualtrics announced plans to hire 1,200 new employees across the region by 2024.

Qualtrics has recently launched several new innovations for the Experience Management Platform to help organizations build deep, personal relationships with customers and employees authentically and at scale.

New products include Experience iD, which brings in capabilities from the recent acquisitions of Clarabridge, the leader in conversational analytics, and Usermind, a leader in journey orchestration, to enable companies to personalize experiences at scale. Experience Design for Hybrid Work and Workplaces helps organizations create new work experiences that enhance productivity, innovation, and growth across hybrid and physical workspaces.