Majority of Australian brands struggle with connecting customer data

Celene Ignacio

16th Apr 2024

More than half of Australian brands say that connecting customer data across channels, sources and platforms remains their biggest challenge.

According to a survey by Twilio, 51 per cent of brands admitted they struggle, while 46 per cent said they are having difficulty turning data into customer insights.

Twilio’s research showed that 86 per cent of businesses claim they provide ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ customer engagement but only 54 per cent of consumers agree.

Moreover, Australia has the widest brand perception gap in the Asia Pacific, demonstrating a 45 per cent difference between a brand’s perceived understanding of its customers and what consumers actually think.

This compares to Singapore’s 27 per cent and Malaysia’s 15 per cent.

“Here we are seeing a lot of brands pouring resources into creating these experiences and deploying AI initiatives, but they are still not properly collecting and unifying the data they need to execute them properly, and consumers can tell,” said Liz Adeniji, area VP of Apac sales at Twilio Segment.

“Brands need to invest in more foundational work around their use of data and consider other measures like improved data security to instil greater trust and ensure their AI and personalisation attempts aren’t missing the mark.”

Meanwhile, 64 per cent of consumers said they would quit a brand if it does not provide personalised experiences while 31 per cent said that it would totally make them purchase from a different brand.

The company noted that 49 per cent of customers said they would trust a brand more if it disclosed how it uses customer data in AI-powered interactions.

It’s imperative for brands to be clear about how they use AI, ensuring that they balance how they deploy it with equally robust measures to protect customer privacy. Transparency is not optional – it’s a critical component of building and maintaining customer trust and loyalty,” Adeniji said.