Customer experience to be top GCC business priority in 2020 - SAP

Businesses in the GCC are expected to place a high priority on customer experience in 2020, as agreed upon by 96% of the region’s information technology (IT) decision-makers, according to a survey conducted by YouGov launched on Tuesday at GITEX Technology Week.

In the YouGov survey, 80% of the respondents depicted customer experience as “very important” and the remaining 16% ranked it as “somewhat important,” according to a press release by SAP.

“The finding that nearly all GCC organisations surveyed are prioritizing customer experience demonstrates that 2020 is the year when all aspects of customer interaction become critically important for business success,” Senior Vice President and General Manager at SAP Middle East South Gergi Abboud commented.

Abboud also noted that GCC businesses can develop products to meet customers’ needs and demands as well as enhance procurement to optimise customer experiences and boost customer happiness.

The GCC organisations have to collaborate with technology vendors to upgrade their technology infrastructure and to meet the demands for experience economy, Abboud added.

“Competitive organizations can interpret and analyse experience (x-data) and operational data (o-data) to improve the four core business experiences: customer, employee, product, and brand experiences,” he highlighted.

Oman Oil and Orpic Group now leads customer experience innovation in the Middle East South after introducing a digital transformation project with a foundation of SAP CX solutions that offer the group with an internal library of customer order history and a business-to-business (B2B) customer portal, the SAP said.

“In order to support the Group’s global footprint and Oman’s economic growth, Oman Oil and Orpic Group needed differentiated solutions to transform its customer experiences,” General Manager Polymer Marketing Gilles Rochas said.

“Our digital transformation with SAP has led to faster onboarding of customers, mobility for our sales staff with full visibility, and customers that can place orders on self-service portals. It has enabled an enhanced customer service, with agents now having full order history,” Rochas added.

SAP also said that Abdul Latif Jameel (ALI), one of the largest diversified businesses in Saudi Arabia, has rehauled its management processes through JSAP, a resource planning system that won the Gold Award for Business Transformation in the SAP Quality Awards in April 2019.

Faisal Abdalla, Vice President of Abdul Latif Jameel Motors said: “ALJ is one of the GCC’s key businesses leading on digital transformation through JSAP, one of the world’s biggest SAP automotive implementations. Its success has seen internal performance and efficiency improved dramatically, reducing vehicle sales delivery lead times and customer order conversion times by over 50%, and ultimately maximising customer satisfaction.”

Moreover, alfanar Electric Division, the electrical equipment and supplies arm of Saudi-based Alfanar Group, has achieved digital transformation in collaboration with SAP, with a strong focus on transforming customer experiences.

“As Saudi Arabia’s market continues to grow, alfanar Electric Division needed one digital platform to understand and act on our customer needs in real-time,” Jameel Khan, Manager SAP Center of Excellence, alfanar Co. Saudi Arabia, said.

“By combining customer data with operational data, alfanar Electric Division can better service to our customers, enhance our electrical materials supply chain, and boost our sales and products. Ultimately, we can better support our growth and meet the Kingdom’s 2030 vision,” Khan explained.

Respondents of the survey seek to improve employee experiences as well in 2020, with 88% of them ranking it as “important” and 60% said they would maintain a “high level” of employee engagement.