Welcome to our second edition of the Customer Experience Excellence Report, a special one, considering the dramatic changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter’s impact on customer behaviour was instant and has affected all industries, countries and demographics.

Our research performed this year in 27 countries and regions, found out that, globally, consumers believe they will be living their lives very differently for the foreseeable future. They feel more vulnerable, less secure and less in control than ever before. They expect the brands they have to interact with - digitally or, as lockdown fades out, physically - to deliver better, safer, and more seamless interactions at a lower cost. Consumer behaviours have fundamentally changed over the last few months across the globe, and Romania is no exception. Customer expectations have heightened as priorities have shifted to health and safety first, which have in turn realigned core human values and beliefs. As a result, what was previously considered to be a great customer experience has no longer been good enough or entirely relevant anymore.

Customer expectations have heightened as priorities have shifted to health and safety first, which have in turn realigned core human values and beliefs.

A powerful insight coming from our research this year is that the large majority of the CX champions, globally and in Romania as well, were already adapted to the challenges of the new reality. These companies are agile and innovative, flexible and responsive, intimately close to their clients, as well as internally connected along a digital thread. As such, they were ready to successfully onboard their customers online, thus allowing a continuous customer interaction and ensuring business continuity. CX champions are already using this crisis as a means of reconceiving and reinventing their businesses to accelerate transformation programmes and embrace new ways of working permanently. In this complex context, the KPMG Six Pillars of customer experience are more relevant than ever, as they define excellence in both customer and colleague experience excellence. They show business leaders specifically what they need to create in order to compete for the New Customer. This year however, they have additional requirements attached.

We invite you to join us in discovering the very powerful insights of our research of the Customer Experience Excellence status on the Romanian market in a time of dramatic transformations.