Customer Experience To Be A Priority For 96% Of Saudi Businesses

Customer experience will be a business priority for 96 percent of Saudi Arabia businesses in 2020, according to a new YouGov survey launched today ahead of the Digital Saudi 2030 Riyadh event.

In line with Digital Saudi 2030’s theme “Transform or Be Left Behind,” as Saudi organisations digitally transform into Intelligent Enterprises, they can no longer provide products and services – they need to personalise customer experiences. As a result, about three-quarters (74 percent) of IT decision-makers in the Kingdom rank customer experience as “very important,” and 22 percent rank it as “somewhat important.”

“As Saudi Vision 2030 boosts the Experience Economy, businesses need to listen, understand, and act on customer thoughts, emotions, and experiences,” said Mohammed Al Khotani, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia, who will present the keynote “Customer Experience: Unlocking the Future of Customer Engagement.”

Al Khotani added, “With 96 percent of Saudi organisations prioritising customer experience in 2020, it’s clear that customer experience is key for outperforming competitors.”

For example, Abdul Latif Jameel, one of the Kingdom’s largest diversified businesses, and alfanar Electric Division, have seen strong success in digitally transforming with SAP to optimise customer experiences.

Abdul Latif Jameel has seen internal performance and efficiency improve dramatically, reduced vehicle sales delivery lead times and customer order conversion times by over 50%, and maximised customer satisfaction

alfanar Electric Division can better service customers, enhance the electrical materials supply chain, and boost sales and products – and ultimately better support its growth and Saudi Vision 2030.

Organisations in the Kingdom leverage numerous customer feedback channels: direct communication (56 percent), surveys (48 percent), social media (43 percent), and ratings and reviews (40 percent).

However, the survey shows the “experience gap” that challenges many Saudi organisations. About two-thirds (64 percent) agree that they effectively optimise their customer experiences. And only a slim majority (53 percent) agree that they successfully collect customer feedback across all touchpoints.

 “Experience gaps can cause failed product launches, delayed inventory shipments, and customer churn,” added Al Khotani. “Saudi organisations need to combine customer experience ‘x-data’ with operational ‘o-data’ to overcome the Experience Gap, and to innovate on four core business experiences: customer experiences, product experiences, employee experiences, and the sentiments on all of these.”

Supporting the Kingdom’s digital transformation, SAP’s ongoing 4-year SAR 285 million Saudi Arabia investment plan includes a local cloud data center, an open platform for local developers, a Co-Innovation Center for customers, and localisation of solutions such as the SAP C/4HANA customer experience suite.

During Digital Saudi 2030 Riyadh, experience SAP’s customer experience innovations with AI, Big Data, and IoT in the Prince Sultan’s Grand Hall at the Al Faisaliah Hotel from 19-20 November.