Feeling the pinch of changing consumer habits? You’re not alone. Many businesses struggle to keep up with the ever-evolving customer landscape. The good news is, there are strategies you can implement to adapt and stay ahead of the curve.
In today’s edition of “Let’s Talk,” our experts delve into the key challenges businesses face in the modern market. They provide actionable solutions to help you better understand and cater to your ever-changing customer base.
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April Hobbs, Publisher, Director, Master Connector at Innovations of the World
“Adapting to changing consumer behaviours is crucial for staying competitive and relevant in today’s evolving business landscape. The traditional approach of “if you build it, they will come” is no longer sufficient.
“Businesses must connect with and understand their customers’ evolving purchasing behaviours. This means recognising that consumer preferences and behaviours are continuously shifting due to innovation and changes in how we live, work, and play.
“To thrive, businesses need to be agile and proactive, and that means monitoring and analysing what consumer habits are, and how they fit with your business. Leverage the data and insights to anticipate shifts, and pivot your strategy accordingly. Engaging with customers through multiple channels, seeking feedback, and fostering genuine relationships are essential strategies for adapting to these changes.
“Innovation should be at the core of your strategy. Embrace new technologies and methodologies to meet the changing demands of your customers. Whether it’s enhancing your online presence, offering personalised experiences, or integrating sustainable practices, staying ahead of consumer expectations can drive loyalty and growth.
“By understanding and adapting, businesses can not only survive but thrive in an ever-evolving market, ensuring long-term success and relevance.”
Anthony Capano, Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand at Intuit Mailchimp
“The consumer landscape in Australia is evolving, making brand trust essential for businesses to stay competitive. Instead of focusing solely on the product, consumers now value the strategies brands use to deliver it. According to Intuit Mailchimp’s report “Brand Trust in the Age of Information Overload“, 46% of Australian shoppers are more likely to buy from brands they trust and connect with.
“Businesses must adapt to this new preference with a proactive, personalised approach. Beyond segmenting audiences and customising promotions, marketers must reach out proactively, as over 60% of 18-to-34 year-olds believe personalisation means products will find them. This approach will enhance customer satisfaction, build brand loyalty, and drive sustained business growth.
“Other effective strategies marketers must consider include offering attractive pricing tactics like free delivery, or adopting thoughtful marketing approaches such as allowing customers to opt out of Mother’s Day or Father’s Day communications.”
Nathan Gower, Senior Director for Enterprise Asia-Pacific at Boomi
“When it comes to consumer trends and expectations, business decision making has become a battleground for lifelong loyalty. Sellers and individual brands can’t rely on big names or buzz anymore. Instead, it’s crucial to establish close relationships with consumers by anticipating constantly evolving customer behaviours and connecting all operational dots.
“Data proves instrumental in this battle. To predict, manage, and capitalise on consumer behaviour, more than simply buying the latest technologies – including artificial intelligence (AI) – businesses need to focus on creating a common ground amid those technologies so they can use the vast volume of data they hold more effectively and get ahead of the trends.
“In fact, real-time access to data drives a better customer experience. For example, a retailer informed of a customer’s search for ethically sourced clothing would allow the business to proactively point them to information on environmental impact and sustainable sourcing practices, encouraging value-based loyalty. This can only be achieved when systems, applications, people and processes are connected to drive and automate outputs that create an amazing customer experience.”
Nathahn Walter, Regional Sales Manager at Zebra Technologies
“The retail industry is rapidly evolving through technology. Despite challenges like inflation and supply chain issues, retailers who have invested in advanced tech are thriving, as they balance profitability with enhanced experiences for shoppers and staff. Empowering retail associates with the right technology enable them to offer a better shopping experience, which has become so important today especially among the Gen Z consumers. Automation and real-time analytics further optimize inventory and supply chains to avoid out-of-stocks situations that can lead to loss of revenue. As digitalization and changing consumer preferences reshape the retail landscape, embracing this tech-driven evolution has become essential for a customer-centric, successful future.”
Kelly Brown, Co-Founder of The Working Party
“In today’s world, consumers crave personalised shopping experiences, seamless transactions, and exceptional customer service. By tapping into data-driven insights, retailers can tailor their offerings to individual preferences, delivering targeted recommendations and personalised marketing messages.
“Agility and responsiveness are the secret sauce to thriving in the ever-changing e-commerce landscape. Understanding consumer behaviour is the first step in adapting to meet their expectations. By focusing on specific needs and getting to know your target audience, retailers can effectively guide consumers through their decision-making journey, ultimately building a brand that’s both valuable and trusted.
“It is crucial for retailers to embrace innovation, invest in cutting-edge digital infrastructure, and prioritise customer-centric strategies to foster trust and loyalty. Think features like one-click purchasing, mobile-optimised websites, and personalised content. Emerging technologies like virtual try-on via image upload or truly frictionless in-store to online journeys will redefine the online shopping experience, driving the evolution of consumer demands.
“Staying attuned to emerging trends and evolving technologies will position retailers to seize new opportunities and tackle shifting consumer demands head-on.”
Jonathan Reeve, Vice President APAC at Eagle Eye
“Structurally, there’s long been a trend towards increasing personalisation. Cyclically, a couple of years of high interest rates have significantly reduced disposable incomes. So, providing bespoke offers, including discounts, to consumers while they are out shopping makes sense.
“Marketing in the Moment combines customer data with contextual data points (location, history, current activity, time, etc) to deliver content (an offer, message or personalised engagement) to an individual shopper at the optimal time to influence a purchasing decision. It’s built to reach shoppers at the exact moment it’s most relevant for them, knowing their unique preferences and the context they’re in at that specific time.
“This is personalisation taken to its logical endpoint – messaging and offers tailored not only to the customer’s preferences and needs states but also to their current state of mind. Engaging with shoppers at the precise time and place they’re making purchasing decisions is the most direct and efficient way struggling retailers can influence those decisions.
“To make this model work, retailers need a powerful platform to connect with the millions of context-rich data points that create resonant moments. Eagle Eye and its AIR platform do precisely that, enabling retailers to manage and automate billions of personalised offers and messages in real-time in one place.”
Billy Loizou, Area VP APAC at Amperity
“Businesses have always been keen on recurring revenue, but there’s been a renewed focus on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) as consumer spending has tightened. That’s partly because technology has emerged that makes more accurate CLV calculations feasible. But it’s also because brands and retailers have been reminded, post the zero-interest rates period, that it’s easier to sell to an existing customer than win over a new one. And chasing new customers can be a double-edged sword especially when businesses focus on ‘transactional metrics’, such as customer acquisition, and find themselves pursuing short-term growth at the expense of long- term profitability.
“AI is now further improving the Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) that digitally mature businesses have long used to resolve their ‘messy customer data’ issues. Among other things, that’s allowing those businesses to more precisely understand the customer journey, reach target audiences and deliver personalised experiences. For instance, Amperity recently launched AmpAI, a suite of AI tools that powers its Lakehouse CDP, which segments audiences using AI-powered predictive models to target (existing) customers with the best next buying experience.”
Yang Liu, Marketing and Communications Lead, Pacific at NIQ
“At NIQ Pacific, tracking and providing insights on fast-changing consumer behaviour is our core focus. We’ve seen firsthand how inflation, economic uncertainty, and shifting geopolitical landscapes have significantly impacted consumers’ purchasing decisions.
“Our recent NIQ reports reveal a clear trend that financially conscious consumers are laser-focused on value for money and are actively seeking out brands and businesses that deliver it.
“To empower businesses to navigate this evolving landscape, we recently launched NIQ Discover in Australia. This versatile business intelligence platform enables companies of all sizes to uncover meaningful trends faster, make better-informed decisions, and identify new growth opportunities. By providing real-time access to key metrics, NIQ Discover enables businesses to rapidly adapt to shifting consumer preferences, a critical capability in today’s fast-moving market.”
Lucy Winship, Head of Strategic Ventures at NobleOak
“In today’s market, being agile, responsive and innovative is crucial for businesses to meet changing consumer expectations.
“Consumers’ lives are shifting towards digital, personalised experiences and quick gratification. People compare their experiences with their other brand interactions – such as ordering UberEats or Netflix recommendations. This shift has led to a growing impatience with traditional processes and consumers’ expectations have never been greater.
“Embracing digital transformation in the right way can provide a personalised and efficient service. At NobleOak, we are focused on combining a human touch with technology to give our customers increased personalisation, choice and simplicity.
“Over the last year, we have launched a separate financial planning service called Wealth Maximiser, which helps people take control of their financial future with a combination of online solutions and face to face support from a qualified Wealth Coach. Within our life insurance business, we have also implemented a new AI-driven application process to streamline the life insurance application process and a new customer portal to help customers to transact online quickly and efficiently, while still providing award winning customer service.
“Using digital transformation in the right way will help adapt not only to current demands, but also meet future expectations.”
Beau Bertoli, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Prospa
“The phrase ‘adapt or die’ has never been truer for SMEs than today as consumer spending behaviours continue to evolve under the pressure of a tight economy. As a result, Australian SMEs are suffering, with 46% dipping into their own income to keep their businesses afloat, according to our recent research.
“To counteract lower discretionary spending, 43% of SME owners plan to reduce their non-essential expenses and 38% are looking to increase their prices over the next year. But there’s another essential ingredient SMEs need to navigate the current macroeconomic climate – better technology. The ability to streamline manual processes and efficiently complete admin tasks can save business owners precious resources. This is especially critical in light of the fact 29% of SME owners revealed that they’re spending less time with friends and family due to the challenging economy.
“However, despite the potential benefit to both work-life balance and the bottom line, only one in five metro-based businesses are looking to increase their technology adoption in the future. This presents a clear opportunity for SMEs to harness technology to weather the perfect storm of increasing living costs and subsequent changes to consumer spending behaviours.”
Beni Sia, GM and SVP, Veeam APJ
“Adapting to changing consumer behaviours is critical to business survival and success. For Veeam, this means anticipating and meeting the growing demand from customers to ensure their businesses keep running within our dynamic technology landscape. We power data resilience by ensuring we meet their needs today, and also look to the future for what they need tomorrow.
“To both adapt and anticipate customer behaviours, businesses must do two things:
- Collaborate with customers and partners. The voice of the customer and insights from partners must be one of the driving forces behind every business to ensure its products/services are innovative, relevant, reliable and efficient.
Remain focused on innovation. Creativity is thinking up new ideas, and innovation is about executing them. Veeam’s business is always focused on moving ahead with relentless momentum, such as recently leveraging AI for our customers/partners, and delivering the best solutions and support to customers to exceed expectations.”
Hunter Leonard, Founder & CEO, Blue Frog Marketing Pty Ltd
“There are three things I would encourage business owners to consider when it comes to changing behaviours of consumers..
“First, be sure that your own consumer behaviours are actually changing, don’t listen to general market comments until you’ve confirmed that change in your own customers as every market segment is different.
“Second, don’t let technology get in between you and your customer. Research is proving most customers want to speak to a human when they need help or service. A significant number of transactions are going online, and consumers are happy to buy online, but make sure they can speak to a real human if they need help.
“Last, keep in communication with your customers regularly and keep a weather eye on your market as this will buy you time and space to make adaptations to the way you operate. No-one can plan effectively based on surprises and sudden changes – these shocks can kill your business. We’ve surveyed ten thousand business owners and have found that the more things change, the more they stay the same, so don’t throw the baby out with the bath water when it comes to change.”
Greg Barnett, Digital Experience Director at NCS Australia
“In today’s consumer environment, companies cannot afford to overlook transformational technologies, available at their fingertips, that enrich CX by providing a “customer-first digital experience”. As consumers increasingly seek simple yet engaging interactions with brands, companies must reimagine the customer journey through data and technology – but where do they start?
“Before implementing technologies in customer experience, businesses must formulate robust strategies that foster loyalty at each touchpoint. This involves mapping customer experiences to optimise interactions, improve overall satisfaction, and drive long-term connections.
“Some strategic approaches include:
- Customer research: gather insights through systematic inquiries to inform customer-centric design decisions
- UX & UI design: craft intuitive interfaces and seamless experiences to drive engagement and satisfaction
- Design sprints: accelerate innovation through collaborative design sprints for rapid prototyping and validation of ideas
- Product design: innovate and refine product concepts for maximum functionality and user appeal
- Accessibility review: evaluate digital products for inclusivity and ensure compliance with accessibility standards.”
Annette Densham, Business Award Writing Specialist, Annette Densham Award Services
- “Always have an eye on industry news, consumer reports, and what’s buzzing on social media. Tools like Google Trends and social listening platforms are handy.
- Get feedback through surveys, reviews, and direct chats. Find out what your audience loves, what bugs them, and what they wish you had.
- Use analytics to track how people behave on your platforms. Look at buying patterns, website visits, and social media engagement to spot changes early.
- Always be ready to switch things up by tweaking your products, changing your marketing, or improving customer service. Flexibility keeps you relevant.”
Kumar Mitra, MD and GM – CAP & ANZ at Lenovo ISG
“Consumer behaviour is constantly evolving, and staying ahead demands continuous market research, agile product development, and a steadfast commitment to sustainability. At Lenovo ISG, we are dedicated to enhancing our offerings, redefining customer experiences, and maintaining a competitive edge in the dynamic field of emerging technologies like AI.
“In times when consumers are cautious and strategic with their spending, strong, evergreen core business values become paramount. Adaptability and foresight are essential, but so is staying true to our values. During turbulent periods, consumers seek assurance from companies that deliver innovative yet familiar services that are consistently reliable and aligned with their expectations.
“This doesn’t mean shying away from pioneering ideas. On the contrary, it means ensuring these innovations resonate with consumers and are easier to adopt. Through our AI Innovators program and comprehensive AI-optimized end-to-end portfolio, we provide robust AI solutions tailored to the unique needs of enterprises.
“At Lenovo ISG, our commitment to ‘Smarter Technology for All’ is at the heart of everything we do. By upholding this core value, we ensure our customers receive the quality of service we are renowned for, while continuing to innovate in our product offerings, ultimately benefiting both our customers and our business.”
Adrien Lopez Lanusse, Advisor at Giftbee
“Staying relevant as your customers evolve is key to not only sustained growth, but to survival. We must improve our ability to anticipate changing behaviours by deeply understanding and empathizing, not just listening to customers.
“One tip is to compare behaviours to what people say in social media or surveys. Resolving contradictions can reveal latent or unarticulated emerging needs. For example, younger consumers place a strong importance on sustainability, yet often choose convenience over sustainability (they are the biggest buyers of fast fashion). This is leading to the rise of eco-friendly yet convenient products.
“Look beyond your typical customers and target audience. Consumer trends often start in sub-cultures before becoming widespread. Insights about changing behaviours can be sometimes found among consumers at the fringes.
“Lastly, stay agile and flexible. Consumers are notoriously bad articulating changing needs but can react to concepts and ideas. Regularly test and explore a wide range of new concepts, even if in sketch form. It’s better to fail early and often than after investing in a long development cycle.”
Jodi Lee Duncan, Marketing and Buyer Psychology Strategist at Fletch and Co.
“While consumer behaviours continue to change, the core principles of human psychology remain the same. This presents a fantastic opportunity for businesses. By understanding the psychological drivers behind why people buy, you can easily adapt to new behaviours without losing sight of what truly motivates them.
“People crave connection and belonging. Even with digital platforms, this need remains. Brands that build genuine relationships and create a sense of community will always win loyal customers.
“Emotional connections are powerful. It’s not just about making people feel good; it’s about resonating with their values and experiences. Brands that reflect their audience’s needs, wants, fears, and challenges can make their messaging more memorable and connect on a deeper level.
“Social proof and authority are still influential. Modern consumers look to others’ opinions and behaviours when making decisions. Showcasing reviews, testimonials, endorsements, and user-generated content can build the credibility and trust you need to stand out.
“Understanding cognitive biases and how people process information can enhance your marketing strategies. By reducing cognitive load and presenting information intuitively, you can influence consumers’ decision-making processes, making it easier for them to engage with your offerings and enhancing their overall experience.
“So, while the way we reach consumers might change, the psychological principles guiding their behaviours don’t. The key is to truly knowing your consumers and understanding why (and how) they buy.”
Luke Iggleden, Technology Strategist & Advisor at Amaze
“Tech-savvy businesses now have unprecedented access to information, enabling them to make highly informed decisions. This demands that tech companies not only stay abreast of current trends, but that they also leverage advanced data analytics and AI to anticipate future needs. By harnessing these technologies, businesses can gain deeper insights into consumer preferences, allowing for the creation of highly personalised and relevant products and services.
“But you can’t forgo building genuine relationships with clients and partners. The informed market demands to know there is trust and transparency, which is highly valued. Tech companies must prioritise authentic engagement through communication channels and deliver exceptional customer support.
“Differentiation is, of course key, but no one else can be you, or your business, and no one else has the people you have. This is where the differentiation lies. Naturally, as consumers become more conscious of working with the right businesses, it’s important to align and be true to your values, and work with businesses who also support the same values. By remaining agile and responsive to shifting consumer behaviours, like we have for the last two decades, a business can foster loyalty, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive sustainable growth.”
Nathan Schokker, Owner & Founder at Wave CRM
“The search for authentic, especially when faced with the rise of AI everywhere, has been the most recent change for consumer behaviours as we’ve experienced it. In B2B, it was often about a presentation that absolutely nailed delivery, matched with premium visuals and graphics to reinforce strong branding and almost a “slick” feel to it all. Yet no more.
“Those who slide backwards during this change have failed to recognise that consumers, and potential consumers, need stuff that cuts through the dull roar of everyday. They appreciate that outreach is a numbers metric, a one to many approach. However, they want to know some thought went into why they are in the ‘many’, otherwise they’ll actively find what you brought them elsewhere.
“Embracing exaggerated language, yet avoiding buzzwords and complex or industry jargon. This breaks through with authenticity, and dare we say, care. It shows an emotional intelligence and willingness to adapt and being proactive to what they need and want, even if it’s not perfect for them.
“Change will happen again and again and again, being receptive and observant to the change is what will create your adaption, and ultimately success.”
Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia
“The current volatility of the economy shrinking discretionary spending is re-shaping consumer expectations and changing spending behaviours.
Across the small business landscape, I’ve observed two emerging trends.
- Consumers require an experience
Modern consumers have higher expectations of businesses. They expect omni-channel touchpoints, personalised interactions and an exceptional experience.
Research shows that experience is paramount to purchasing decisions and 50% of customers are willing to exchange information for a more personalised experience. 48% are willing to pay more for quality service. - Spending is transitioning to social commerce
When consumers do spend, it’s increasingly through digital and social media platforms. They prefer a personal connection with businesses, built through cross-channel creative, tailored content and effective brand positioning.
Business success in a tight economy is achievable if you are willing to adapt how you interact with customers and prospects. Local business owners who are revamping this and offering innovative online solutions are winning the hearts and minds of consumers.
“Small changes can have a big impact on your evolving customer experience:
- Meet your customers where they are. Connect through omni-channel communication solutions like SMS, WhatsApp, and social media channels.
- Dive deeper into your customer profiles and deliver personalised experiences that adapt to their tastes and preferences.
- Build social proof online by encouraging online customer reviews that will bolster your reputation where consumers are buying.
“If your small business is relying on traditional offline channels, there is no better time to embrace the power of digital so you can quickly adapt to changing consumer behaviours.”
Narendra Shukla, Director – Consulting Services at Edwise Consulting
“The first step towards adapting to shifting consumer behaviour is knowing what is driving the shift. Some key factors include;
- Technological advancements: For instance, artificial intelligence (AI) and e-commerce are quickly changing consumer behaviour.
- The emergence of social media has had a big influence on customer behaviour.
- Shifts in the economic factors directly affects consumer behaviour.
“This is what it takes to remain relevant in the 21st-century’s digital world and adjust to shifting consumer behaviour.
- Use technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence to adopt hyper-personalisation.
- Utilise predictive analytics to anticipate influencing factors in advance to meet the demands of individual clients to increase engagement and loyalty.
- Enhance online presence by providing trustworthy, mobile-friendly platforms and use AI powered chatbots to uplift customer service.
- Harness partnership, develop engaging contents, and collaborate with social media influencers to harness their influence on shifting consumer behaviours.
“In nutshell, consistency is key. Implementing analytics tools and systems to track consumer behaviours, adapting technology to gain agility and increasing internet presence will help in staying ahead of the curve.”
Rob Hotchin, Country Manager at Privy Australia
“Australian consumers have rapidly adopted the new digital world. This high-speed adoption left several holes in the infrastructure, failing to ensure a safe digital environment and exposing consumers to new threats. One of the largest holes was identity. In response, the Australian Government released MyGov, Australia’s first iteration of digital identity. Despite having 3.3 million app users and more than 782,000 sign-ins per day, MyGov has fallen considerably short of meeting consumer requirements to achieve widespread adoption. Between July 2021 and February 2023, there was $500m of fraud linked to MyGov and the ATO alone.
“This year, the Digital ID Bill was passed and became law, paving the way for private enterprises like Privy to offer a solution that allows citizens and consumers to control their most authentic asset – their identity.
“In the near future, the potential cyber-threat of handing your passport over when you check into a hotel, uploading licences and utility bills to open a bank account, and filling out immigration cards at airports will be a thing of the past. First, however, consumers must be given the autonomy to choose who to trust and when to give over their identity. This will enable them to trust and adopt the technology, understand where their information is being stored, and control permissions for businesses to access required data with their consent – all designed to promote trust and security while allowing consumers to do business and conduct e-commerce more safely and easily.”
Brittany Fox, CEO at NEVAM CX
“From a Marketing perspective, consumer behaviors have always been changing. We are comfortable in this space and with adopting new tech to service new needs and behaviors. The key is not necessarily to stay atop of the latest macro trends but focus on how, when and where consumers interact with your brand.
“Steps I take clients and my team through are:
- Understand who your ideal customer is and what jobs they need to be done.
- Map the detail of your customer experience to find friction points that analytics doesn’t pick up cross channel.
- Implement an experimentation framework to consistently optimise and react quickly.
- Always listen to your customers’ feedback- then implement what they want from your brand quickly and make sure they know you listened.
“The Customer experience is key yet often forgotten. I always recommend two speeds in teams- BAU and optimization. If teams can chip away at continuously adopting new experiences, features, products etc while maintaining BAU; they should be able to adapt without having to implement completely new processes.”
Konstantin Klyagin, Founder of Redwerk and QAwerk
“SMBs experience both drawbacks and opportunities when it comes to tracking changes in consumer behavior. While SMBs typically lack the extensive data analytics resources of larger companies, they are much more flexible. This allows them to experiment, learn quickly, and find the right approach.
“At Redwerk, a B2B IT agency, we navigate this dynamic by first analyzing our internal data. We examine sales calls to identify trends in service demand and shifting customer expectations. Don’t underestimate the power of your existing relationships. We regularly survey our clients about their changing needs and those of their customers.
“Another powerful tool both B2B and B2C businesses can leverage is social media. Join online communities, LinkedIn groups, and Slack channels where your target audience is to see what conversations attract the most attention. Use social listening tools to track brand sentiment, specific topics, and customer pain points. This extends beyond your immediate audience – understanding competitor weaknesses through social listening can be equally insightful.
“Finally, many forget about one evergreen trend – providing quality service. Invest in continuous upskilling and professional development of your employees. Great service is key to nurturing long-term relationships, giving you more time to adapt and develop new client acquisition strategies.”
Abby Stewart, Founder & Director at Oi Cosmetic Studio
“In the beauty industry, you’re constantly adapting to trends and what clients want. At Oi Cosmetic Studio, we saw a need for accessibility after the recession in 2010. That’s why we created our membership program, with a weekly fee, spreading the cost of making high-end treatments available to ensure clients could continue to care for their skin at accessible pricing. With the current cost of living crisis, the model has been a game-changer and we’re nearly booked solid with 500 loyal members, and a 95% retention rate. Being adaptive proves that service-based businesses can thrive even in tough times, by first understanding their customers and offering creative solutions.”
Adam Pay, Managing Director at mycar
“Customer expectations are changing quicker than ever before. With a vast amount of information at their fingertips, customers demand faster and better products, greater value, and more enriching experiences. They also seek genuine, authentic, and personalised engagement. While this may seem challenging, the solution is straightforward: prioritise your customers and be adaptable – or what I like to say – be obsessed by your customers.
“We’re all aware of our own expectations from the businesses we interact with. It’s about recognising that your customers, like you, have choices on where to spend their hard-earned money. And with the current climate causing people to become increasingly conscious about the amount they’re spending, the key is to carve out a unique space for your ideal customer; listen to them, and take action to meet their needs.
“Care beyond the car” is how we frame this at mycar. It’s about understanding our individual customers so we can better tailor our services and recommendations to their unique lifestyles. While the technical expertise of our team is a given, our People First approach shifts the focus from the car to the customer. As customer expectations continue to evolve, it is essential to stay open and willing to change — be curious, learn, and take action.”
Christopher Telley, Founder of HeyRCG! and Brand Builder
“Staying ahead in the ever-evolving market means understanding how consumer behaviours are shifting. As a marketing and brand professional, I’ve seen how changes in consumer preferences, driven by technological advancements and socio-economic factors, can make or break a brand. Leveraging marketing theories like ‘Diffusion of Innovations’ and the ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’ provides a framework to understand how consumers adopt new products and make purchasing decisions.
“But, to truly grasp these changing behaviours, we must dive deeper into the world of our consumers. This is where Ethnographic Research comes into its own. By immersing ourselves in the consumer environment or partnering closely with them, we gain a richer understanding of their behaviours, needs, and motivations.
“By staying agile and responsive to these insights, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to better connect with customers, boost engagement, and build lasting brand loyalty. Embracing adaptability not only meets the evolving needs of consumers but also positions businesses for long-term success in a dynamic market environment.”
Mark Buckley, Vice President, Australia and New Zealand, Genesys
“Customer expectations are rapidly evolving. In fact, ANZ customers have the highest CX expectations across the APAC region, with 80% of ANZ consumers switching businesses after poor experience, according to a report by Genesys. This explains why businesses are increasingly turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies to orchestrate experiences tailored to each customer.
“In customer service, AI can be a big payoff, and its true potential is unlocked when businesses level-up with AI-powered experience orchestration to go beyond single interactions and connect technologies, channels, data and people, all in real-time. Most businesses still lack a mature AI-ready foundation, limiting AI applications ability to drive impact on CX. Connecting their data and systems are critical to scaling personalised, next gen experiences – such as evolving ordinary self-service bots into sophisticated virtual concierges. For business leaders, the key to building trust with customers and employees in the age of AI is to use it as a tool for human empowerment— driving efficiency and enhancing the capabilities of human agents while making experiences more empathetic and personalised for customers.
“Vast opportunity exists for AI in the contact centre to drive better business results because it’s a repository of vast real-time data that, when orchestrated across the journey, takes frustrating, transactional interactions and turns them into personalised, loyalty-building experiences. In short, integrating technology into customer experience strategies is a powerful tool that enables businesses to anticipate and meet evolving consumer expectations, fostering deeper connections, enhancing brand loyalty and repeat business.”
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