Customers of the Future

1. Customers of the Future

2. Cambridge Technology Partners • Cambridge founded in 1991 • 1999 Revenues of $628m • 40% of revenue outside of North America • 50 offices in 19 countries on 5 continents • More than 4,000 employees worldwide Services • Interactive Solutions • Customer Management Solutions • Digital Strategy and Planning • Management Consulting • Network Services/CTI • Training and Assimilation Services

3. Cambridge in Australia • Established in May 1997 • Focus on delivering eBusiness Solutions • Clients are listed in Top 100 companies in Australia • Offices in Sydney & Melbourne • Over 110 staff

4. Who are Customers of the Future? • A focus group of young consumers • From regional & metropolitan areas around Sydney and Melbourne • Aged between 16 and 22 • Met in Sydney and Melbourne sessions between May and October 2000 • They discussed issues and innovations relating to the Internet and IT industry

5. Why Customers of the Future? Cambridge is concentrating on the New Economy challenges that our client’s face when trying to understand issues that young consumers are having on a day to day basis.

6. What we discovered ... • Initially security was an issue • Positive purchasing experiences helped reduce the reluctance to buy online • Group was evenly split over privacy on the Internet • personal details seem widely available (online/offline) • entering excessive personal details online is disliked • they recognise the gathering of data as a market research tool • Junk email • confirmation & delivery notices are welcome • junk email is received every day • junk email is regarded as rubbish and deleted without being read

7. What we discovered … cont. • Look & Feel of the Site • some sites attracted groups members while at the same time turned off others in the group • dark backgrounds, lots of information make the site “busy” • this was attractive to the guys, but not to the girls • Branding • gravitated towards sites they had heard of before • not related to sites with bricks & mortar stores • advertising pays off - gravitation towards known sites • gravitation towards branded products gave the site a sense of confidence • site design became important in making decisions about whether or not to trust lesser known sites

8. What we discovered … cont. • Australia vs Rest of the World • a real preference for Australian sites • is this patriotism? • key influences are: • price • speed of delivery • previous poor purchasing experiences • a view that if something goes wrong it’s easier to rectify locally

9. What didn’t they like... • Pop-up screens asking for registration details • Links not working • Not having enough information to allay fears about what to do when: • receiving incorrect items • receiving damaged goods • how to exchange items

10. What they really liked... • Getting information about products • listening to CD’s • reading reviews written by other buyers • knowing the dimensions of a product • Good site navigation • visually interesting • balance of flash & 3D animation necessary for speed • quick and easy access to information and services

11. A timely reminder... Sometimes it’s just about having access to products & services

12. Understanding your audience • Effective design means understanding your audience • More than demographics and market segments • Learn what turns your customers ‘on’ and ‘off’

13. Logistics of the sessions • 4 pairs of sessions • Discussion around a large central table • 3 hours focus group sessions - Sunday morning • Facilitators / Audio recording / reports

14. Activities in the sessions • Introductory activity • Review of previous purchase • Purchase product over the internet • Discuss purchase

15. Summary of results • Shift in purchasing concern from privacy to delivery logistics • statistics => privacy & security • questions that started to be asked • delays (2 months+) & order cancellations • misleading delivery information • tolerance of delivery delays (metro vs. non-metro) • opportunity to exploit ‘Australian-ism’ • Emails • tens of ‘junk’ emails each week • deleted, blocked & companies criticised

16. Summary of results cont. • Site Design • good navigation expected • search tools for specific searches through flat structures eg. Book • clear, simple, easy to use category structures for browsing eg. Gift purchase • Content • reviews from other purchasers • opportunity to sample the product when appropriate • at least as much info as supplied with the physical product

17. Customers of the future 2001 • Expanded program • Industry + academia

18. Questions ?