Are bots boring? Indians prefer human interaction, personalised experience

People in India have the highest requirement for personal services in the world with 82 per cent Indians demanding offline as well as online personalised experiences, according to a new study by software giant Adobe.

The "Adobe Experience Index 2019" that surveyed 1,000 adults found that while two out of three people in India prefer human interaction over interacting with machines, a majority of 79 per cent people are happy to have automated experiences -- especially younger consumers with 84 per cent people aged between 25-34 years.

On the other hand, brand-loyal Indians -- aged between 50-64 years -- are more likely to agree that brands already know and respect them. They feel brands make technology transparent to them.

"In the past few years, India has seen competition across brand categories intensify, with businesses giving their consumers more choices than ever before. Therefore, Indians having the highest expectations across the world when it comes to personalised customer experiences does not come as a surprise," said Sunder Madakshira, Head, Marketing, Adobe India.

The study highlighted that customer respect and personalisation are important criterias of brand interaction, even for the Gen Z consumers.

If these expectations are not met, it could impact businesses' bottom line, with one in four consumers abandoning their cart as a result of having challenging user experience and customer care.

While Indian consumers are impressed with the potential for automation at smart stores, the study said that 18-24 years old Gen Z are less convinced that technological innovations will improve their lives.

And just as good user experiences are seemingly earning brands brownie points, bad experiences also leads to one in three consumers over 35 years of age saying that they would stop purchasing from the company altogether.

The top three experience-breakers for Indian customers are hidden fees after purchase, no cancellation policies for travel packages and different returns policies for marketplace sellers.

"In order to succeed in this experience age, businesses need to be aware of what their consumers want and aim towards delivering personalised, seamless experiences in real-time," Madakshira added.