Better Customer Experience Means More Revenue For Companies: KPMG Analysis

These findings are from KPMG's 2018 U.S. Customer Experience Excellence Analysis of more than 7,500 U.S. consumers and 250 brands across 10 business sectors: financial services, grocery, non-grocery retail, restaurants & fast-food, entertainment & leisure, travel and hotels, logistics, utilities, telecommunications and public sector.

According to the report, the companies consumers ranked highest on customer experience delivery are:

1. Navy Federal Credit (first year on the list)
2. USAA
3. Disney Parks
4. H-E-B Grocery
5. Calvin Klein
6. Publix
7. Wegmans
8. Avon
9. Jet Blue
10. Amazon

In its 9^th year [Click here for 2017 report], KPMG's analysis shows the biggest movers up the rankings are SunTrustBank (137 places to #43); Nationwide Mutual Insurance (123 places to #75); Cricket Wireless (90 places to #63); Banana Republic (85 places to #71); and Vistaprint (72 places to #17).

"In 2018, the concept of individuality and the unique sense of self remain equally relevant – however, now companies must not only show that they know their customers' names but that they know them as a person," said Julio J. Hernandez, KPMG's global Customer Center of Excellence and U.S. Customer Advisory lead. "Today's immediate gratifications consumers want to feel valued and recognized as an individual. In a world where consumers realize that their personal data has value, firms need to understand what information customers want to share and how they want to be engaged."

The brands were ranked across KPMG's Six Pillars of Customer Experience Excellence – Personalization, Integrity, Expectations, Resolution, Time and Effort and Empathy – to identify the top companies.

The report notes that Amazon is the benchmark when it comes to personalization and trust. Its web site greets visitors by name, shows consumers' shared history and can make suggestions that demonstrate a deep understanding of each customer as an individual – all which contribute to a highly personalized experience for users.

The study found that personalization is critical to the successful delivery of a customer experience, and a pillar of loyalty and advocacy. Customers want to be known, understood and made to feel important and unique. KPMG noted that personalization requires deep knowledge of the customer and his or her circumstances, and that "poor personalization is like no personalization at all."

The report found that while technology is clearly transforming the customer experience – many organizations continue to struggle to drive value from their investments due to poor internal alignment around customer experience outcomes.

Financial analysis showed the brands ranked in the Top 50 experienced 50 percent higher revenue growth than the bottom 50, and generated EBITDA^* growth more than three times higher than the bottom 50.

To download the full report, please go to: www.kpmg.com/us/CEEreport

*EBITDA – Earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization

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SOURCE KPMG LLP

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