For Customer Experience Professionals

Emotional Experience Design

Creating Online Experiences That Deeply Engage Customers

by Ron Rogowski, October 26, 2009

As consumers increasingly look to connect with companies online, lackluster Web experiences will damage many brands. But better functional design won't solve the problem. Instead, Forrester recommends that companies master the three principles of a new . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Why Americans Research Financial Products Online But Buy Through Other Channels

Channel Switching Is Driven Largely By Security And Support Issues

by Edward Kountz, Peter Wannemacher, September 22, 2009

Many US customers use multiple channels when buying financial services products, crossing channels during their path to purchase. Among online adults, 41% of financial product applicants research online but buy offline. Security and a need for hand-holding . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Footwear Manufacturers' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Adele Sage, September 18, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large footwear manufacturers — adidas, New Balance, Nike, and Puma. Overall, the footwear manufacturers lagged relative to most of the other industries. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Discount Retailers' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Bruce D. Temkin, September 3, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large discount retailers — Kmart, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart. Overall, the discount retailers performed poorly compared to the other industries we evaluated. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Interactive Design Agencies Go "Above The Line"

by Vidya L. Drego, September 3, 2009

Dramatic changes in consumer behavior and the economy have caused companies to shift budgets from traditional advertising to interactive marketing. Interactive agencies ride the trend with partnerships, acquisitions, new services — and a much bigger role . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

CDHP Member Engagement Slips — Again

Health Plans Can't Count On Plan Design To Drive Healthcare Consumerism

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 26, 2009

Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) continue to experience rapid growth in adoption. But member engagement has declined for the second consecutive year. CDHP members are now less likely to use online health tools and actively manage their healthcare . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Executive Q&A: Cross-Channel Reviews

by Adele Sage, July 31, 2009

Cross-channel reviews uncover flaws that prevent users from accomplishing goals when their paths take them across multiple channels, like Web sites and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. When companies fix these flaws they improve business results. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Auto Insurers' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Bruce D. Temkin, July 10, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large auto insurers — 21st Century Insurance, Allstate Insurance, Geico, and State Farm. Overall, the auto insurers performed fairly well relative to the . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Multichannel Is Still A Myth For Retailers

Companies Continue To Struggle With Cross-Channel Contact Strategies

by Sucharita Mulpuru, June 29, 2009

Retailers have been striving to provide seamless multichannel shopping experiences in order both to stay ahead of the market in an increasingly interconnected world and to align themselves with consumer multichannel behavior. In a recent report, Forrester . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Deep Dive Into Insurance IT Decision-Makers

by Ellen Carney, Emily Van Metre, June 2, 2009

Insurance professionals seem unlikely candidates for social media use. They trust familiar information sources, value personal relationships, and are generally risk-averse. However, this group's interest in social media is not only on par with their peers . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Italian Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., June 1, 2009

Italian banking customers' channel use differs from that of most other Western Europeans. While customers elsewhere in Europe migrate from the branch to the Web, branch use in Italy keeps growing and online banking use remains low. eBusiness and channel . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Swedish Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Alexander Hesse, May 27, 2009

With only 12% of Swedish banking customers using branches, Sweden has the lowest branch use in Europe. Swedish banks have successfully migrated the majority of their customers to ATMs and online banking — 83% and 71%, respectively. When they move customers . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Online Travel Agencies' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Adele Sage, May 22, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large online travel agencies — Expedia, Orbitz, priceline.com, and Travelocity. Overall, the travel agencies ended up with the highest average score compared . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Trends 2009: European Retail Banking eBusiness And Channel Strategy

The Financial Crisis And The Recession Have Changed Priorities For Executives

by Benjamin Ensor, May 12, 2009

Under the impact of the financial crisis and the recession, eBusiness and channel strategy executives at European retail banks will focus on retaining customers and increasing efficiency in 2009. In this environment, we expect to see eBusiness and channel . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Spanish Consumers Use Banking Channels

by Alexander Hesse, April 16, 2009

Age and Internet access continue to be the strongest predictors of channel choice in Spain. Branches are used by mainstream consumers, whereas online and telephone banking attract a niche of young, high-value Net users. Online banking adoption in Spain . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Customer Centricity Drives Esurance's eBusiness Strategy

by Chad Mitchell, March 23, 2009

Over the past decade, US direct insurer Esurance has survived the dot-com bubble while carving out a growing share of the auto insurance market. The firm established itself as a viable challenger brand to direct insurance Goliaths GEICO and Progressive . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Financial Services, Q4 2008

What Was On The Minds Of Bank And Insurer Roles In '08?

by Ellen Carney, March 10, 2009

To understand how the recession, particularly the collapse of Wall Street and the housing market, is affecting technology decision-makers in the financial services industries, Forrester sorted through more than 20,000 inquiries that it received during . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design, 2009

Forrester Applies Its Cross-Channel Review Methodology To 16 Major Firms

by Adele Sage, March 6, 2009

Forrester applied its Cross-Channel Review methodology to the experiences at 16 firms — four of the largest auto insurers, discount retailers, footwear manufacturers, and online travel agencies. While Expedia, Nike, and Orbitz received the top overall . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How French Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., February 23, 2009

French banking customers remained true to the branch for a long time. In the past three years, however, the growth of online banking in France has finally started to draw customers away from use of their traditional channel — with online banking especially . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Trends 2009: North American Retail Banking eBusiness And Channel Strategy

Ten Areas Of Focus For The Next 12 Months

by Brad Strothkamp, February 19, 2009

2008 was tumultuous for financial services. Banks and lenders closed their doors, merged, saw their stock prices plummet, and slowed lending to all but the best consumers. So what should eBusiness executives expect for 2009? Forrester believes that eBusiness . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Dutch Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Alexander Hesse, February 18, 2009

The Netherlands is the leader in online banking and ATM use in Europe. A whopping 95% of Dutch consumers use ATMs, and 78% use online banking at least monthly. Although no more than 14% use branches today, the long decline in branch use has stalled. With . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How German Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., February 13, 2009

German banking customers tend to be adopters of either the Internet or the branch, with only a small group of people frequently using both channels. The migration of consumers from the branches to the Internet has regained speed as better educated, wealthier, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Multichannel Experiences Still Need Work

Consumers Report Low Satisfaction When Shopping Across Channels

by Sucharita Mulpuru, February 2, 2009

Superior cross-channel experiences continue to be the goal for most retail executives of multichannel businesses. Yet a recent Forrester survey of consumers highlighted the particularly large opportunity in delivering better customer experiences across . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Predictions For 2009

Five Things Every Customer Experience Professional Should Think About

by Megan Burns, January 26, 2009

The definition of what makes a "great" customer experience is constantly changing. To help firms keep up, Forrester identified five things that we expect to influence the definition of customer experience excellence in 2009 and beyond: Experience-Based . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How The Net Is Influencing European Offline Sales

by Valerie Batut, Reineke Reitsma, January 23, 2009

For the past decade or so, an increasing number of European consumers have been relying on the Internet to provide them with information on products and services. Today, more than half of the European online population is regularly using the Internet . . .