How improving customer experience can boost ASEAN businesses

Southeast Asia’s growing middle classes are becoming a critical factor in global consumer trends, but they are also among the hardest to please: in a 2023 survey by Rakuten Insight, 50% of retail customers in Southeast Asia reported that they would be likely to switch to a competitor if they did not receive good customer service.¹

Brands looking to tap into the growing Southeast Asian consumer market face high expectations for convenience, as demonstrated by the popularity of super-apps and sprawling marketplace platforms – online environments that channel all sort of services and products to consumers, from payments to ride-hailing. The ASEAN region already hosts super-apps from the likes of Singapore-based Grab and Indonesia’s GoTo, as well as e-commerce sites like Lazada and Shopee.

Mobile access and electronic payments are increasingly seen as non-negotiable. According to PwC’s Voice of the Consumer Survey 2024, 45% of Asia Pacific respondents reported shopping on their mobile phone daily and weekly, compared to 34% globally.²

The lines between different commerce activities are also blurring, as social media trends penetrate traditional business transactions. Boston Consulting Group estimates that ‘shoppertainment’ –where retailers and e-commerce companies blend entertainment with retail transactions, such as the LazLive+ interactive video content programme that e-commerce operator Lazada offers its online shopping customers – could grow from a USD500 billion sector in Asia Pacific in 2023 to over USD1 trillion by 2025.³

“Our experience working with international businesses and fintech providers around the world can be invaluable for businesses who are looking to stay up to date with the latest trends in digital payment solutions.”

Standing out from the crowd

One consequence of an increasingly digitalised world is the challenge of differentiation – especially as innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) become widely adopted.

While individual business still seek to maintain their competitive advantage, the swift global flow of information means that barriers are lowering every day in areas like manufacturing, design and coding.

The democratisation of data in all its forms means that standing out from the crowd has never been so tough. Against that backdrop, one area where businesses can still mark themselves out as leaders is in the experience they offer their customers.

Getting that right depends on two things. First, correctly identifying the demands of customers; and second, meeting them as seamlessly as possible.

Demographics play a part in understanding customers’ expectations. But while it may once have been the case that only the youngest generation wanted sophisticated digital interactions, that is no longer true. Not only have the youth of yesterday become the elders of today, but the convenience of today’s technology has also transformed customer service expectations across societies.

Nowhere is this more true than in Asia, where the popularity of instant payments has become a self-reinforcing trend. Customers of all ages and wealth backgrounds are now accustomed to seamless, personalised, and digital-first interactions in their personal lives as well as in their corporate interactions. In 2023, 70% of all e-commerce transactions were conducted using digital wallets.⁴

Even healthcare demonstrates how Asia’s consumers are adopting a more proactive approach to managing their institutional interactions. A 2023 Bain & Company survey of consumers in nine Asian markets found that 51% of respondents were prepared to pay more for better health outcomes, including better experiences and efficiency – with the percentage rising to 58% among the youngest cohort.⁵ Over 90% reported preferring a single touchpoint to manage care, demonstrating the overwhelming desire for convenience.

Making payments easier

For customers, many digital interactions with businesses will involve a financial transaction, most likely requiring a payment or an application for credit. And just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the quality of the experience that a company is able to offer its customers will often depend on the quality of the financial services on which it relies.

This means that banks have a pivotal role to play in supporting those ASEAN businesses that are striving to offer the best experience to their clients. To underpin that effort, financial services providers must increasingly be able to deliver tailored and personalised financial products, as well as innovative digital banking solutions.

For many businesses, the requirement for good customer experience goes well beyond the processing of a financial transaction. Successful product development, smooth after-sales service, and effective communications often depend in some way on the offering a business receives from its financial services providers, because they often rely on access to sophisticated data analytics and other insights that banks can make available.

For businesses offering a range of payment options to their customers, HSBC Omni Collect offers a one-stop solution for in-store and e-commerce payments. Payments can be made in a variety of ways, from eWallets to bank transfers or QR codes. Comprehensive reporting options allow analysis of trends to enable clients to spot new opportunities, while an easy-to-use dashboard brings this information within easy reach across a business.

Businesses can also benefit from HSBC Global Wallet, a service designed with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mind. It is a digital multi-currency account that facilitates transactions across more than 240 countries and territories, via the HSBCnet banking platform.

By investing in these kinds of technologies and data analytics, banks can deliver a superior customer experience for their ASEAN business clients. In turn, this can lead to stronger customer loyalty and higher revenues for those clients. Getting that right is the key to unlocking the operational efficiency and long-term customer relationships that all successful businesses enjoy. The right bank can make that journey much smoother.