By Iva Johan, CSO at Bernadette, VCCP’s digital experience agency
In today’s hyper-connected world, more than 60% of all brand interactions happen digitally. It’s obvious that brands should be prioritising digital experience – so why do most brands still fail to deliver?
There’s a chasm between what customers expect from a brand’s digital touchpoints and what they actually experience.
In our new Digital Experience Index (DXI), we uncovered an ‘experience gap’ of 40 percentage points, with the top-ranking brand scoring 87% customer satisfaction while the lowest-ranked brand scored just 47%. According to the DXI, 49% of UK consumers believe brands are falling short of their digital experience expectations. Furthermore, only 30% of customers feel that any brand’s digital services stand out compared to competitors.
These findings should worry brands: the digital experience gap can directly translate into a loss of business, diminished brand loyalty, and an increasingly devalued reputation. Simply put, a poor digital experience is just as detrimental to a brand’s success as any other negative interaction in the customer journey.
When your app isn’t solving problems, it’s making things worse
Brands are losing sight of what customers actually need. Some implement new technologies without considering whether they truly improve the customer experience, while others take a defensive approach, rushing to match competitors’ features rather than developing solutions tailored to their own customers’ needs. In both cases, the result is the same: digital experiences that feel disconnected from customer priorities and therefore fail to solve real problems.
When an app isn’t solving problems, it’s not just a minor pain point for users – it’s causing a much bigger problem than that. If your app isn’t making it easier for a customer to engage with your brand, it’s negatively affecting your reputation. Your app is the bridge between the customer and the brand promise. If it fails to deliver on that promise, the negative feedback will be loud and damaging.
A poorly designed app will force a customer to jump through hoops to complete a purchase, leaving them struggling to find important information, so the overall experience becomes more painful than productive. An app should simplify the process, improving the experience and fostering a connection. When it fails in this area, the consequences can be severe.
The DXI taught us that customers can clearly recognise when brands get digital experience right. Financial services companies consistently earn the highest satisfaction scores by making traditionally complex information feel approachable and manageable with clear design and streamlined experiences. When brands prioritise genuine user needs over unnecessary features, they build trust and make users feel confident and in control – exactly what customers expect from digital experiences today.
A digital experience that aligns with your brand world
When your app looks like every other one on the market, customers fail to recognise what makes your brand unique. Customers want a personalised experience that reflects the brand’s core values. This can’t just be done through aesthetics: it needs to span across all comms touchpoints. From chatbots to call centres, the tone of voice reflects the brand and its values.
Creating great digital experiences isn’t about fixing just one thing. When something isn’t working, customers notice – whether they’re struggling with a confusing website, feeling excluded by poor design, or finding nothing memorable about their experience. These issues may seem small on their own, but together they have a major impact on business success.
The brands that stand out are those that truly understand what their customers need, balance this carefully with their business goals, and deliver consistently across all their digital channels. In today’s competitive landscape, this isn’t just about keeping up – it’s about setting new standards that drive real growth.
You can find Bernadette’s Digital Experience Index here.
