Here’s Why India is Ahead of Several Markets in Adopting IoT to Improve Customer Experience

Genesys has released The 2016 IoT-Enabled Customer Experience (CX) Report. Interestingly, the research reveals India ranks the second highest, behind China, in IoT-Enabled customer maturity compared with other APAC markets.

The study, commissioned by Genesys in partnership with Frost & Sullivan, offers insights into how companies in APAC perceive Internet of Things (IoT) and to what extent companies are adopting it to enhance customer experience.

The research examined the way organizations view IoT as a key enabler in enhancing CX and their readiness to take advantage of this emerging technology.

Across India, the research revealed organizations see high value in integrating IoT into their CX initiatives compared to other markets in the region. Close to 80 per cent of respondents cited IoT as a neutral or somewhat important priority compared to other CX initiatives, and almost 40 per cent of businesses said they are thinking about how to incorporate IoT.

“Our research found the overwhelming majority of respondents across APAC believe customer lifetime value is the most significant business benefit delivered by an effective customer experience strategy,” said Keith Budge, senior vice president, APAC at Genesys. “Indian organizations are open to implementing new technologies and have an optimistic view of IoT as a key enabler of sophisticated customer experiences. Most organizations in India are not bogged down by having to integrate IoT into existing legacy infrastructure and as a consequence, this market was ahead of the region when it comes to the adoption of IoT-enabled CX solutions.”

Gap between awareness and implementation

An IoT-enabled customer experience drives the convergence of customer journeys across digital and physical environments, in turn enabling organisations to consistently deliver personalised, predictive and productive experiences for their customers.

Overall, the report reveals 83 per cent of respondents across APAC have some level of familiarity with IoT and nearly 50 per cent believe IoT is important in enhancing CX. Despite this, only 15 per cent of respondents across APAC have already implemented IoT.

Budge said: "The findings underscore the role of technology providers such as Genesys in helping APAC companies roll out successful implementations and, hence, truly realize the potential of IoT to improve CX."

Benefits of implementation

Of those that have deployed IoT to deliver better CX, more than 70 percent said their IoT solution enables them to influence their customers’ buying and engagement decisions. More than a third of surveyed organizations recognized the very high impact IoT had on enhancing customer satisfaction.

Other benefits cited by respondents include positive impacts on brand equity (33 per cent), improvements in operational efficiency (33 per cent) and an increase in employee productivity (35 per cent).

Across APAC, the study found businesses are realizing the wide-reaching benefits of implementing IoT. More than half (60 percent) of respondents indicate at least having a starting point for their IoT journey, with 16 per cent looking to incorporate IoT into their organization within the year. A further 29 per cent hope to accomplish this within the next two years.

Barriers preventing adoption

Surprisingly, more mature economies – including Australia and New Zealand – are less likely to have immediate plans to incorporate IoT in their organization to enhance their CX.

The report identified a number of challenges preventing businesses from deploying IoT for CX, including a significant issue with organizations “understanding of IoT value proposition.” A low level of C-suite awareness about the importance or value of IoT-enabled CX solutions was also commonly cited.