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Every Experience Matters: What is the Real Cost of Bad Software?
In the past two weeks, this series has taken a look at how often consumers encounter errors while browsing online and some of the behaviors a user will display when discovering a bug. If you’re new to the party, I’ll encapsulate it here by saying mobile apps are rife with coding issues and the vast majority of consumers have little to no tolerance for low-performing software. What we haven’t discussed yet is the ripple effect of one user encountering a problem. Do they merely pack their bags and go home or do they scream from the mountain tops for anyone willing to listen that they were personally wronged by your brand? If you have read the other two entries in this series, I’m sure you can guess where this is going.
Today’s Every Experience Matters stat is… 25% of users have written a negative review of a company after a bad experience.
We’re all familiar with grassroots marketing and positive word of mouth. Well, this is the opposite of that. If you were hoping that the inverse is true on the above statistic, just log onto your social media platform of choice and do a quick search to see how many folks praise companies when things work well. Not a lot there, because this is the expected outcome. No, people are much more likely to complain than give praise.
But while one in four has published their thoughts for the masses, nearly half (49%) have shared their negative online experience with a friend or a relative. That may not seem to have much of an impact, but like rumors and gossip, a snowball always starts small before spiraling out of control.
Negative reviews can directly impact revenue, and these statistics should be a warning that one aggrieved user can cause cascading consequences. The most alarming number, however, is that one in five consumers that encounters an error stops shopping with the brand altogether. In an age where business leaders are preaching customer acquisition, customer experience, and customer retention, it is clear that these unforced errors in the customer experience space can have devastating repercussions.
The news isn’t all bad though, these mistakes can be easily avoided by using end-to-end automation testing solutions like those provided by Sauce Labs. Whether you operate in a low-code environment or heavily rely on API testing and Error Monitoring tools, Sauce Labs can give companies the digital confidence to deliver their customers the best possible experience, every time. When we say Every Experience Matters, we say this knowing that the experiences consumers encounter have a direct impact—positive and negative—and determine their ability to shop, access health records, play games, and communicate with friends and family. The poor experiences we have can lead to lost revenue, frustration, and the inability to complete important tasks. The great experiences can lead to innovation, meaningful connections, and a society of greater digital confidence.
As a brand, your reputation is everything and it must be protected at all costs.
Come back next week for the penultimate entry in this series when we will be looking at specific verticals and the areas that trouble users the most.
