The past two years have spurred an unprecedented acceleration of digital transformation for business-to-consumer (B2C) companies in Singapore, advancing their digital strategies by an average of 6.8 years.
As a result, B2C companies in Singapore that invested in digital customer engagement also saw an average increase in total revenue of 61%.
That's according to research released today by leading cloud communication software company, Twilio. The company's third annual State of Customer Engagement Report reflects the results of a survey of 3,450 business leaders and 4,500 consumers conducted in 12 countries, including Singapore, Australia, and Japan, and found that investing in digital customer engagement and personalisation technologies has had a significant positive impact on customer retention and trust - as well as revenue.
The cookie clock is ticking
Third-party cookies, which Firefox and Safari now block, will also be blocked by Google Chrome by the end of 2023. Businesses need to prepare quickly for these upcoming changes, especially as most consumers in Singapore (88%) prefer brands to use only first-party data when delivering personalised experiences.
The deprecation of cookies will make it much more difficult for businesses that rely on them to identify and monitor website visitors. For their current marketing tactics, 73% of B2C enterprises in Singapore polled rely on third-party data. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of Singaporean businesses (65%) think they are not entirely prepared for a world without cookies.
When a crucial pillar of the advertising- and social media-driven internet vanishes, collecting and relying on first-party data will no longer be a competitive advantage - it will be a requirement for survival.
Personalisation: expectations vs. reality
Personalisation has evolved as one of the most critical parts of offering a competitive brand experience that attracts customers and builds brand loyalty. In reality, failing to provide individualised experiences to clients might have serious ramifications, especially as Singaporeans anticipate customised experiences more than people in other nations. In Singapore, 81% of consumers say they will stop using a brand if it does not personalise their experience, compared to 61% globally.
However, while both brands and consumers agree that personalisation is important, the report uncovered some startling gaps.
For instance, most companies in Singapore (90%) surveyed believe that personalisation is critical to their customer engagement strategy. Yet while 75% of companies claim to provide good or excellent personalised experiences to customers, more than half of consumers (53%) disagree, reporting bad, poor or average personalisation.
Five fundamentals to ensure digital survival and success
'The research clearly shows that companies that prioritise digital customer engagement reap the biggest rewards,' said Lee Hawksley, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific and Japan at Twilio. 'Personalisation is actually getting harder to deliver, with high customer expectations, changing technologies, and the diminishing value of third-party cookies. We've seen five fundamentals to overcoming these challenges: embrace digital, personalise every interaction, shift to first-party data, close the trust gap, and avoid engagement fatigue by increasing the quality of your interactions.'
Key findings from the Twilio report include:
Digital customer engagement drives major return on investment
A majority of B2C companies in Singapore (97%) saw an increase in revenue as a result of investments in digital customer engagement.
28% of B2C companies in Singapore surveyed expect to at least double their digital customer engagement investment by 2025.
Personalisation is critical for consumers in Singapore, and they want companies to do better
81% of consumers in Singapore say they'll stop using a brand if it doesn't personalise their experience, compared to the global average of 61%.
While 3 out of 4 B2C companies in Singapore (75%) believe they provide good or excellent personalised customer experiences, more than half of consumers in Singapore (53%) disagree.
Brands need to adapt to a cookieless era
88% of consumers in Singapore prefer for brands not to use third-party data.
Yet, 73% of B2C companies in Singapore rely on third-party data for their current marketing strategies.
Only 35% of B2C companies in Singapore feel fully prepared for the shift away from third-party cookies.
The trust gap between consumers and businesses is putting customer loyalty at risk
54% of consumers in Singapore want brands to do more to protect their privacy and be transparent about data usage.
Consumers in Singapore are taking action against brands that do not meet their data privacy expectations
51% of respondents stopped purchasing the brand's products or services
50% of respondents reduced the amount of money spent on the brand's products or services
38% of respondents told friends or family members not to trust the brand
Digital fatigue is real and a growing problem
65% of consumers in Singapore are frustrated with inconsistent digital interactions with brands
Top three reasons why consumers in Singapore will stop doing business with a company:
Not being able to connect with someone from customer support (16%)
Knowing another company will provide a better customer experience (15%)
Being transferred multiple times to different service representatives (12%)
The report is based on two Lawless Research surveys performed in December 2021 and January 2022. A total of 3,450 business leaders responded to the B2C company survey, while 4,500 consumers responded to the consumer survey. Both surveys had between 200 and 1,000 respondents from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Over the last several years, the research also contains an analysis of anonymised, aggregate data from over 1.6 trillion interactions on Twilio's platform, including Twilio Segment.
TWILIO INC. 
