Top Elements Of The Ideal Customer Experience, April 2015 [CHART]

Consumers (aged 18-65) around the world are most likely to identify an “ideal” customer experience with companies’ fast responses to inquiries or complaints (47% citing as a top-3 element) and a simple purchasing process (also 47%), according to a new study [PDF] released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Interestingly, those factors far outweigh others such as personalization of the experience (12%) and customized offers based on preferences (7%). That doesn’t necessarily mean those aren’t important – personalization appears to be influential in the retail space – but rather that consumers want the basics covered first.

Failure to provide those basics can lead to lost business, per the report. A majority of respondents said they had stopped doing business with at least one company during the previous year due to a negative experience, with this subset of respondents pointing to slow responses to inquiries and complaints, inaccurate or misleading product information, and delays in delivering the product or service as the aspects of the experience that “annoyed” them the most. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.