Customer Experience: What it Takes for Success in the Middle East

7 min

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Pallavi Pavithran

February 14, 2024

The Middle East is known for its vast business opportunities since it's a place for luxury and technological advancements.

If there is a business and customers, there should be concern over customer experience. In the current era, it's more than just a customer experience; it's about personalized customer experience.

The gateway to delivering an exceptional customer experience in the Middle East will vary depending on the industry and target audience of the business. However, there are some common factors that can enhance the customer experience and customer journey across different businesses targeting the Middle East market.

Let's check a few rising trends in the customer experience ecosystem in the Middle East region.

1. Shopping Experiences with Virtual and Augmented Reality:

With VR and AR, customers can now easily try on products virtually, eliminating the hassle of physical fitting rooms and enhancing convenience. This is a great opportunity for retail businesses, especially apparel and makeup brands. These experiences allow customers to see how products look on their own faces or how clothing items fit their bodies without actually putting them on, saving time and effort. These technologies offer a more interactive and engaging way to shop, enabling customers to explore different options, styles, and color variations in a virtual environment.

2. Interactive Displays and Personalized Recommendations:

Interactive displays, such as mirrors with advanced sensors and cameras, have revolutionized the customer experience and journey by offering personalized recommendations. These devices analyze a customer's facial features or body measurements in real-time, allowing them to receive customized product suggestions. This level of customization enhances convenience and engagement, eliminating the need for customers to manually search and compare items themselves.

3. Localization and Cultural Sensitivity:

This involves adapting products, marketing campaigns, and store layouts to align with the unique preferences and customs of Middle Eastern consumers. Organizations can better connect with the target audience and establish a more substantial brand presence by tailoring offerings specifically to local tastes. This entails considering factors such as language, religious beliefs, social norms, and consumer behaviors specific to the region.

4. Exploring Social Media:

With the surge of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, businesses have found powerful tools to enhance their businesses. These platforms allow companies to effectively showcase their products to a broad audience, collaborate with influencers to promote and endorse their brand, and connect with consumers in an interactive and personalized manner. By utilizing these social media platforms, retailers can amplify their brand presence and build a strong community of happy and loyal customers who feel connected and excited about their products.

5. Personalized Support and Technology Integration:

By analyzing past purchases, browsing behavior, and individual preferences, companies can offer relevant product or service suggestions that align with each customer's unique needs. Additionally, technology integration facilitates customer relationship management and smooth customer interaction, providing instant assistance and support and improving the customer support team and customer loyalty.

6. Enhanced Online Experiences and Customer Journeys:

To enhance their customers' overall shopping experience, companies must prioritize the development of user-friendly websites and mobile apps that offer a smooth and seamless browsing and purchasing experience. Additionally, e-commerce store owners and online retailers should optimize their checkout processes to be fast and secure, ensuring that consumers can complete their transactions efficiently and with peace of mind. Furthermore, these retailers need to focus on offering multiple product delivery options to cater to different customer preferences, allowing for more flexibility and convenience.

7. Sustainable Practices and Ethical Products:

There has been a noticeable shift in consumer behavior in the Middle East in recent years, with an increasing demand for sustainable and ethically-made products. Customers are now mainly conscious of the environmental impact of their purchases and seek organizations that prioritize sustainable practices. This includes using eco-friendly materials, supporting fair-trade practices, and minimizing their carbon footprint. By adopting these sustainable practices, companies can attract environmentally conscious people and enhance their brand reputation.

Understanding Customers with Customer Experience Analytics for Success in the Middle East

The above-explained factors are common points that are applicable to all companies and industries in the Middle East. But, as I mentioned initially, companies must identify the specific customer experience factors that drive success in their respective companies and industries. To do that, they need to leverage the power of customer experience analytics. By carefully analyzing different touchpoints, customer reviews, and conversations, companies can gain valuable insights into the key aspects of customer experience, enabling them to make solid decisions to enhance their services and offerings.

Implementing an AI-driven customer experience tool can significantly streamline this process. These robust tools provide comprehensive insights through detailed dashboards, enabling companies to identify trends and patterns in customer feedback more efficiently. This contributes greatly to building a superior customer experience strategy and saves time and resources, allowing companies to respond swiftly to customer concerns and needs.

A case in point is Clootrack's analysis, which examined 27,000 customer reviews of 12 Middle East airlines. This study revealed that customer service, flight delays, flight cancellation, boarding, and booking experience were passengers' primary areas of concern. Armed with this knowledge, airlines can address these specific pain points and make targeted improvements to enhance customer satisfaction and exceed customer expectations.

Hence, besides tapping into what is commonly happening in the market, each company needs to listen to its customers and target the market to improve customer experience and provide what customers want.

To get a clear idea of this, download this report on customer experience in the Middle East airlines industry: Global Airline Industry Trends: Customer Review Analysis of Top 12 Airlines Worldwide