NTT DATA Services, a global technology services company, released its latest Customer Friction Factor (CFF℠) Assessment entitled, “Friction Challenges for the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry.” The research confirmed that consumers’ website experience is impacting the bottom line for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, even though CPG organizations are often seen as the middle man between partners, suppliers and consumers.
“Consumers have heightened expectations for premium digital experiences that blend products and services in more personalized ways. CPG organizations need to take ownership over customer experience and provide a holistic experience across all touch points whether physical, human or digital,” said Bob May, Senior Vice President, Consumer Industries, NTT DATA Services.
NTT DATA’s used its CFF framework to measure various customer friction points across 15 leading CPG Web sites including Anheuser Busch, Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, Dean Foods, Dr. Pepper-Snapple, General Mills, JBS S.A., Kraft-Heinz, McCormick, Mondelez, Nestle S.A., Pepsico, Tyson Foods, Unilever N.Y., and WH Group — primarily focusing on product search, information transparency and purchase availability.
Key Study findings
- Leading CPG companies have 31 percent greater asset turnover and 13 percent higher gross margins compared to low scoring organizations.
- Low-scoring CPG websites averaged 55 percent more steps for the consumer to complete their goal or reason for visiting the site, whereas leaders only averaged four steps.
- While both high- and low-scoring CPG websites engaged in cross-selling/up-selling throughout transactions, the study found that low-scoring sites had heavy use of pop-ups, leading to consumer distraction.
- 21 percent of all friction is related to technology - lagging CPG sites had confusing navigational menus, hard-to-find search results and a high number of page refreshes.
