Every now and again, technology is utilized so that people begin to question whether it’s worth the cost. But when we take a step back, we see that while technology has negative aspects, the impact has been primarily positive.
It’s easy to take for granted just how transformative the emergence of internet-connected technology has been.
This is particularly evident in how it’s impacted the consumer experience. There’s little doubt that you’d much rather be a consumer in today’s world than in the past for several reasons.
Let’s look at how smartphones, tablets, and laptops have revolutionized the customer’s experience.
Consumer Reviews
If you were to buy a product in the 1970s, you’d just hope it was worth your money. Today, consumers can access countless customer reviews to help them make the right purchasing decision.
If you’re looking to buy a new microwave, you’ll know that you will have the weight of public opinion behind you. That’s all thanks to those handy reviews that can help present a complete image of what a product is like before purchasing.
If a product has countless five stars, the customer can be confident they’ve made the right decision.
Access to Deals
Deals existed in the pre-internet era but were less frequent and valuable. Today, consumers can find offers on anything they wish to purchase.
This extends beyond the usual products you’ll find deals on — again, a new microwave — and into realms that have historically been deal-free.
A real-world bingo hall would not offer its customers deals, yet with little more than their smartphone; modern players can find here a list of bingo bonuses that allow them to get as much bang for their buck as possible.
The same principle applies to virtually everything you can buy online, even historically offer-free products. All of this has undoubtedly benefited the consumer, who can save more money than ever before.
Handling Issues
Nobody wants to deal with consumer issues. But they want to deal even less with matters that are difficult to rectify. In real-world problems, the burden of fixing issues is usually left to the consumer, who the retailer deems “out of sight, out of mind.”
In the digital era, the burden has transferred to the business, who knows that the customer has many large platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) on which they can air their grievances.
For perhaps the first time in history, businesses have reason to fear customer feedback. In addition to reducing the likelihood of an issue, businesses go above and beyond to rectify complaints. And that’s only good news for consumers.
Product Research
People would have a sense of what they were buying in days gone by, but it was only really a sense.
Most of the purchasing decisions were based on advertisements. Today, potential customers can conduct extensive product research to understand what they’re buying before they hand over their money.
Websites list significantly more information than what a real-world store could. Indeed, consumers can even read the user manual online before deciding.
Out-and-Out Convenience
Finally, there’s the matter of convenience. Modern customers need not grapple with the problems that shoppers used to face, including lack of access to products, traveling to/from stores, and managing issues.
In today’s hyperconnected world, the consumer can complete every stage of the shopping process, including researching products and making a purchase, while sitting on the couch.
With people’s free time increasingly limited, they’re less likely to travel to a store in the hope that they have what they’re looking for.
Thanks to the power of the web, they don’t need to — day or night, they’ll know that the efficiency of online shopping is there to offer a seamless shopping experience.