Happy Friday! ‘This week in CX’ brings you the latest roundup of industry news.
This week, we’re looking at online shopping scams and how social media is assisting in this; consumer issues with communication from their bank; and what marketers think of CDPs.
Key news
- Forsta have partnered with Cint to to fight survey fraud and improve data quality and security for the market research industry. All Forsta customers using Cint will receive access to this environment, where ghost completes (also known as link jumpers) are expected to be effectively eliminated, by the end of June.
- Guidewire’s recent research has found that 42% consumers are still considering whether to reduce their spending on insurance. In 2023, home contents insurance is the most likely cover to be cancelled, overtaking travel insurance which led in 2022. More people are comfortable with data use in insurance, with the number of people who do not understand why insurers would use sensor telemetry for insurance purposes (18%) having dropped by 10% in the last year.
- Content Guru has announced the integration of the sentiment analysis software Jabra Engage AI into its storm platform. The Engage AI solution uses AI to analyse tone of voice in real time. As a result, organisations are able to better understand and support their agents. In turn, this will improve customer and agent experiences.
- The world’s first AI-based ‘quick app’ has launched this week. The AI Quiz Builder is being introduced by UK-based start-up, ScoreApp. It will help organisations rapidly create tailored quizzes leveraging the power of artificial intelligence.
Social media is contributing to online shopping scams
Newly published data from Lloyds Bank is based on analysis of reported cases among their more than 25 million retail customers. It has found that two-thirds (68%) of all purchase scams now start on just two Meta-owned social media platforms – Facebook (including Facebook Marketplace) and Instagram. This accounts for around 40% the total amount lost to this type of scam.
This alarming figure signifies how savvy fraudsters are utilising social media to prey on unsuspecting shoppers. There has been a rise in online scammers creating fake business pages, social media ads, and even fake online stores.
Purchase scams starting on Facebook and Instagram are expected to cost UK consumers more than £27m this year alone. The bank found that clothes, trainers, gaming consoles and mobile phones are among the most common goods being falsely advertised. Across the industry the average amount being lost by the victims of purchase scams is around £570.
Almost 80% of scams start in the tech sector. By the time a victim reaches payment, it is very to detect amongst the billions of genuine transactions which take place each year. Fraud is linked to only 0.01% of all Faster Payments (equivalent to one in every 10,000 transactions) made across the UK.
Lloyds Banking Group is calling for technology and telecommunication companies to do more to stop scams at source. Lloyds also say these companies should play their part in refunding victims of fraud which originates on their platforms.
The rise of online purchase scams on social media signifies how important it is to only shop deals that come from official channels. Such as signing up to your favourite brands mailing lists to access deals.
Wethrift conducted a study into which retailers are promoting the most deals and discounts to their mailing lists.
- Fashion giant Shein took the top spot. The brand was dedicating 100% of its emails to promoting discount codes.
- In second place was health and beauty retailer, Boots. 86% of their emails contained discount codes.
- Pet retailer Pets at Home took third place, dedicating 80% of their promotional emails to discount codes.
In an age of financial difficulty, bank communication isn’t clear
In a new survey among 2,000 consumers by Definition Group, fewer than half say communications from their bank are clear (49%), easy (35%) or ‘for people like me’ (32%).
The survey highlights a big challenge for financial services firms ahead of 31st July 2023 – the deadline set by FCA to comply with its new Consumer Duty. The duty requires these firms to provide consumers with communications they can understand, value-added products and services that meet their needs, and customer support when required.
Important financial documents are frequently littered with jargon, technicality, acronyms, risk warnings and clauses, making them hard to understand. Jargon, in particular, has serious consequences:
- 35% of people who are struggling have made a financial mistake because of ambiguous wording
- A third (33%) of people who’ve bought something on credit ended up paying more than they expected
- Only around half of the consumers surveyed could properly define terms such as inflation (51%), APR (50%), and BACS (43%).
Financial jargon is especially tough on people with other important commitments. 55% of parents caring for children with disabilities ended up with a financial service they didn’t need because of confusing communications. This is three times as many as parents of children without disabilities. Those with disabilities themselves struggle the most with financial terms. They are twice as likely to make a mistake with their finances because they did not understand the wording.
59% marketers think Customer Data Platforms are overlooked by the industry
New research by SALESmanago surveyed 250 marketers across the UK, Poland, Germany and Spain. They looked to determine the disconnect between marketers and CDP adoption. The majority (59%) of senior marketers think Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are overlooked by the industry.
With IDC forecasting that the CDP market will surpass $5.7 billion by 2026, there’s no doubt that CPDs are growing in popularity.
However, when asked whether they know what a Customer Data Platform is, surprisingly 39% of respondents didn’t. Of those that do know what a CDP is, 54% find that improved data quality is the key benefit of using the platform, followed by it being a unified hub for data collection (17%). Customer engagement came in third at 12%.
The survey found that 62% of marketers use CDPs for their ecommerce marketing. 43% are confident in their ability to measure the ROI and impact of CDPs. Only 14% are not confident at all in their abilities to measure ROI.
Of those that use CDPs, integrating data from various sources is the biggest challenge respondents have encountered (57%). This was followed by ensuring data accuracy and completeness (47%) and difficulties training teams on how to effectively use the CDP to drive marketing initiatives (32%).
Thanks for tuning into CXM’s weekly roundup of industry news. Check back next Friday for the latest updates of the week!