Romania
Customer Experience Excellence report 2022
Customer Experience Excellence report 2022
The new socio-economic context has had a considerable impact on the growth of all Romanian sectors in the past year, and there’s a general downward trend across the market on all the six Pillars of Customer Experience Excellence. The highest ranked sector, Restaurant and fast-food, is no different, though the acceleration in food delivery services increased convenience for many customers during the pandemic. This is likely one of the reasons why the sector is leading the market for the second consecutive year.
A number of core customer challenges face Romanian brands in 2022, among them the quest for value as inflation rises, uncertainty sparked by war in nearby Ukraine, and disruption to the global supply chains. Customers are readjusting their attitude towards brands and trends that show a potential shift towards value driven purchases and retailers are adapting their product portfolio and increasing the share of white label products to meet the new customer needs.
A shift towards digital is another clear trend of the past few years and Bringo, the first shopping app in Romania to allow users to make purchases from a variety of retailers, claims the top spot in this year’s CEE brand rankings. Jumping five places since 2021, Bringo scored 9.15 for time and effort, 8.98 for personalization, and 8.90 for resolution. Owned by the French multinational retail and wholesaling giant Carrefour, Bringo initially focused on delivering food from hypermarkets, but the company has since enhanced its propositions to include restaurant food delivery, a growth market during the pandemic.
Seven other brands in the top ten are playing in the online and app ecosystem, "a clear sign of customers’ shift towards digital channels and of the strong response of market players across sectors. Today, innovation and new digital customer value propositions are at the core of ensuring new sources of competitive advantage.
Bringo has introduced a number of additional services in the past few years, tailoring their offerings to meet their clients’ expectations. Their customers now have the option to shop from smaller stores, and businesses can order through the app with recently launched B2B customer accounts. The variety of products, prompt delivery, and the professional attitude of the food delivery agents are all ranked highly by Bringo customers.
"I order very often through Bringo," says one customer. "The orders are complete, properly packed, and the couriers are always serious, prompt and kind. I was impressed that every time a product was out of stock I was called and asked if I wanted something else instead."
The quest for value remains a top priority for customers in 2022. This year’s CX leaders have tailored their offerings and met their clients’ expectations, showing that excellent customer service can co-exist with discounting models, in many instances enhancing the adoption of the relevant products and services. "With a rather turbulent and unpredictable period expected ahead, customer experience excellence will likely continue to remain a true differentiator for brands competing on the Romanian market. The challenge for the next CX champions, however, will be to deliver an enhanced, personalized and omni-channel experience at the lowest cost possible. This will likely require getting closer than ever to their customers, while rethinking the way their organizations are designed to deliver customer value.
2022 Top Ten
01. Bringo
02. FarmaciaTei.ro
03. Carturesti
04. Notino (Aoro.ro)
05. H&M
06. Catena
07. Paypal
08. ING Bank
09. eMAG
10. Answear