Investing In Customer Experience

Wayfair recently announced a video platform that will add “entertainment, ideas, and inspiration to the brand’s seamless mobile shopping experience.”

This follows Ikea’s launch of an advanced augmented reality room visualizer earlier this year. Both examples show how retailers are prioritizing the digital shopping experience, a trend which will continue to have ripple effects for retailers of all sizes.  

According to Deloitte’s annual CMO Survey, B2C companies ranked product quality as their customers’ top priority. However, customer experience was tied with low price for the second spot on the list.

According to Cassel Bear, the marketing partner of the Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market, projected strong demand for hardwood furniture makes this a good time to invest in customers’ digital buying experience. For smaller retailers, this may include high-quality product photography, modern web design, content marketing and e-commerce tools. 

So how much should you invest? Deloitte reports that B2C companies spend  13.7 percent of their revenue on marketing and that digital marketing accounts for 58 percent of marketing budgets. As a comparison, the U.S. Small Business Administrations suggests that businesses with less than $5 million in sales allocate 7-8 percent of their revenue to marketing.

Source: Deloitte – The CMO Survey 2021