No Charge for Person-to-Person Customer Experience

Organizations across all industries struggled to manage customers across digital and physical touchpoints even before the pandemic. The 2020 pandemic prompted businesses, particularly non-essential retailers and brands, to rethink the way they use their physical spaces, and the workers within them, in order to be more efficient. Along with their counterparts from financial services, more retailers and brands launched video-based appointments. They also offered on-demand video chats between store associates to digital customers. This increased the value of personal-to-person (P2P), customer experiences online.

Markets will begin to loosen their lockdowns, and businesses will become more proficient in managing "COVID-19 secure" physical environments. This will make customer experience increasingly multi-touchpoint. H. Samuels, a jewelry retailer in the UK, and Currys PC World in the UK are actively promoting video appointments with associates within their stores. They do not plan to scale them back when they reopen.

Customers will increasingly interact with each other via digital and physical touchpoints. Organizations will need to be more flexible in order to meet customer needs through three modes of interaction: self-service (automated), and P2P.

The latest report examines the role of digital leaders with a focus on retailers and brands. It focuses on how they will more closely address customer needs using technology across their organizations as well as across the customer lifecycle.

Digital Accessibility: How $10B in Design Spending will Soon be Available Annually

Design is a hot topic. It is becoming a priority for more businesses. We wanted to find out how much accessibility has on both design technology vendors as well as service companies that offer design.

Our analysis shows that at least $10B (and possibly as high as $16B) of design spending in the US will shift to service and tech companies that are committed to accessibility. The potential impact on the rest the world and shifts that could rock wider tech, marketing and consulting categories in Canada and the US (e.g. content management systems, customer relations management, enterprise resource planning etc.) are not included. You can find out more.

How did we calculate this $10B shift

We first identified five sectors in the US and Canada that have a significant impact on accessibility: finance, healthcare, retail and quick-service restaurants. 1) Data on digital accessibility lawsuits; 2) Who Forrester receives inquires from; and (3) Survey responses. Additionally, government agencies must procure tools that comply with Section 508 (a US standard), and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act of Canada (a Canadian law).

These industries are responsible for approximately half of all design spending in Canada and the US. This is one way we can estimate the impact.

Alternately 36% of respondents to Forrester’s most recent annual Global State Of Design Teams Survey said they have a "top-down commitment to accessibility." Most say that this is being implemented. We expect that more firms will make formal commitments, especially as they focus on diversity and equity in their customer experience, as well as making accessibility a priority -- which we predicted would happen by 2021.

These two numbers indicate that we expect 40% of US and Canadian design dollars to be devoted to accessibility requirements.

One-third to one half of all global design spending is accounted for by the USA and Canada.

This means that out of the $80B worldwide spent on technologies and services to support design, $10B to $16B will be allocated based on accessibility commitments. Vendors and distributors of technology such as survey tools, prototyping, research platforms, and prototyping will have to upgrade their platforms in order to sell into these five sectors. Services firms with accessibility expertise will be able to find work that supports these businesses, while those who don't will lose projects. Accessibility is now integrated into the methods and approaches of all services firms, which will improve accessibility in all industries.

Although this won't happen overnight it is becoming a common requirement in procurement for design tools that platforms be accessible or have plans to be accessible. We already hear that accessibility expertise is an essential requirement for service firms. Both are valid -- these changes could potentially cost at least $10B.