Nov 16, 2022
4 min to read
In an Akeneo-commissioned Forrester study, it was found that PXM and product experience (PX) are the foundation for customer experience (CX), but require the right technology, processes, and strategies in place for organizations to truly optimize their operations.
A customer’s experience with your product is no longer just a single interaction; they may discover you on Instagram, search for you on Google, and compare your product to others by looking at user reviews, all to purchase your product on Amazon. Every single one of those touchpoints, and more, contribute directly to your customer experience (CX). What does that mean? Product experience (PX) is foundational to customer experience.
This has been the mindset at Akeneo for some time, and in April 2022, we commissioned Forrester Consulting to explore this idea further. The research team at Forrester conduct an online survey with 452 global product strategy decision-makers with the intention to discover how product data and product content tools and processes impact engaging and contextualized customer experiences.
What we found was fascinating – though the right tools, people, and strategies may be in place, organizations have yet to tap into the right functionality and combination of resources to optimize their product experience strategy. Organizations are struggling to create and harness quality product data that they can use to inform customer experience development and achieve business goals.
In particular, we discovered that:
Customer experience continues to dominate the path to growth for many organizations, but CX is impossible without quality product experiences and product data. Decision-makers recognize that top gains can be realized when their organization’s product activation strategy directly aligns with top-level business priorities.
78% of decision-makers report that product data is as critical as customer data to achieving customer experience (CX) goals.
Respondents to the Forrester survey revealed that their organizations are not struggling with a lack of tooling, but rather that they have trouble tapping into key functionalities required to develop a robust product experience. You may have all the product information technology you need, but you don’t have a focused strategy on how these platforms should communicate and work together, causing communication silos and a subpar customer experience.
88% of respondents said that accurate, complete, and relevant product data is very important to create the best product experience.
When organizations invest in tech, people, processes, and quality product data, they are able to turn actionable insights into decisions that improve the product experience. PXM maturity cannot be reached with poor product data; by prioritizing how they activate their product data, teams experience the full benefits of having actionable access to their PXM data, such as the ability to activate and localize across all channels. This, in turn, provides pathways to better data-driven decision-making, increased agility, and ultimately, better CX.
77% of respondents agreed that their organization’s senior leadership recognizes the impact of product data on top-line business priorities.
Omnichannel customer experiences are here to stay, and brands and retailers are going to have to activate their entire product record across every channel, whether it’s owned by them or not. But this requires a dedicated PXM strategy with investments in the right people, processes, and technologies because the customer experience starts with the product experience.
For more insights into how PXM is the foundation for a strong customer experience, you can download the full Forrester study here, or check out our on-demand webinar, featuring an industry analyst from Forrester breaking down the findings in detail.
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