Driving CX Transformation within Transportation & Logistics Part 1

Brands need their interactions to be seamless, transparent and facilitated by dynamic processes from first touch through fulfillment and beyond because customers don’t just buy products and services — they buy experiences. If that experience is a bad one, an excellent product or service will not make up for it.

For this reason, Customer experience (CX) is playing  an increasingly important role in how manufacturers and supply chain partners plan for, adopt and integrate technologies to provide deep insights, improved communication and a better customer experience. Positive experiences lead to conversion, revenue, loyalty and advocacy, while negative experiences create frustration, reduce brand value and often lead to customers sharing negative experiences with work colleagues and social circles.

This blog post is part 1 of a 2 part series about the importance of digital customer experience for the Transportation and Logistics industry, and how organizations can get started building a digital experience strategy.

The demand to provide value -- whether it be a great user interface,  accurate stock counts, personalized product options or speed of delivery -- are now imperatives for success. This extends into and impacts the transportation and logistics (T&L) industry, where supply chains can be complex, partner data is often siloed, competition is heavy, and loyalty is often a challenge.

Whether you’re diving in head first, or taking small steps, digitalization is inevitable. B2B and B2C companies, including carriers, LSPs and CEPs who can delight today’s customers will be poised to increase both their market share and profitability. Those that don’t can anticipate the same fate as Blockbuster and other once thriving businesses that embraced digital too slowly.

Customer Experience As A Key Brand Differentiator

Consumers have come to expect “Amazon-like” experiences that provide seamless order processing, automation and swift, low-cost (if not free) shipping. And as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) continues to mature, logistics companies recognize they need to make significant investments in digitization, but many aren’t sure where to begin and how to execute.

As e-commerce and logistics systems are becoming more intelligent and integrated, leaders like Amazon, Johnson and Johnson, Apple and Nokia are continuously innovating and bridging the gap between marketing, sales, fulfillment and customer services. They’re differentiating themselves through customer experience and reinventing their business culture, creating highly valuable strategic advantages. Their “better than norm” experiences are  influencing consumer expectations and setting a high bar for third-party logistics providers (3PLs).

By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. -Gartner

So, how are the leaders positioning themselves to:

• reduce costs while increasing speed of delivery?
• provide customers with seamless, transparent interactions?
• increase total lifetime value and revenue?
• create opportunities while reducing threats?

It begins at the top with strategic digital transformation analysis and planning. After all, a well-planned digital strategy is often the difference between success and failure.

In part two of this series, I will dive into the nuances of driving transformational digital change to achieve a successful customer experience. Learn how to benchmark your current digital customer experience, drive organizational change to grow your internal digital culture, and position your team to implement an actionable and scalable digital strategy.