Why Removing Friction is a $325 Billion Opportunity for Businesses in Asia Pacific
Learn how to identify and remove friction points along your consumers’ path to purchase and enable them to get what they want now.
Part of the Facebook IQ series "Zero Friction Future."
CONTENTS
What if businesses could create a Zero Friction Future? In the current age of instant gratification, consumers expect seamless experiences, whether that means easy product discovery, faultless delivery, timely customer service or personalized follow up. In fact, 80% of consumers say that the experience a business provides is as crucial as its goods or services.1 If companies do not provide a frictionless experience, consumers can easily find one that will.
Facebook IQ collaborated with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to analyze friction points and their associated costs across industries in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). From this study, BCG estimates that the aggregate dollar amount of the cost of friction businesses suffer in APAC alone can reach $325 billion (US) each year.2 This shows the immense size of the potential opportunity, across online and offline businesses in consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, ecommerce, automotive, hospitality, financial services, travel and quick service restaurants (QSR).
From these findings, we mapped the friction points in the consumer journey to three key phases: discovery, purchase and post-purchase. For marketers, understanding these phases, which can take any of the forms illustrated below, can help determine which pain points particularly need to be addressed to start working toward a Zero Friction Future.
Discovery friction
The first phase of the consumer journey is discovery, when people take notice and become aware of your brand, product or service. In this phase, friction occurs when people have to make an effort to discover your brand or offerings. Discovery friction points fall under three categories: awareness, information gaps and technology optimization.
Discovery friction may include the following:
- Having to register and fill in forms
- Seeing irrelevant ads repeatedly
- Having to search through too many options to find what’s wanted
- Experiencing long buffering or loading times or broken links
55%of people in APAC are not willing to wait more than 5 seconds for a web page to load before leaving the site.3
51%
of customers expect companies to anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before customer contact.4
Top reasons cited by consumers for not converting on mobile:
20%Cannot see product details
20%Can’t browse multiple screens/compare5
Consumer pain points that constitute discovery friction
AWARENESS
Prospect doesn’t know your brand, product or service exists
Prospect doesn't know they need your product/service
Irrelevant offers/ads
Too much time spent searching
INFORMATION GAPS
Too much/too little information
No expert advice
Can't chat or ask for help
Risk perceptions unaddressed (safety, privacy, etc.)
No reviews/ratings to encourage purchase
No price information
Difficult to compare product/price
TECHNOLOGY OPTIMIZATION
Ads not linking correctly
Registration/Form-filling
Loading time too long
No language localization
Content not optimized for all platforms
Purchase friction
The purchase phase begins from the moment potential buyers have decided on what they want to the time payment is made. In this phase, friction occurs at any step or delay in the purchase process that hinders people from getting what they want. Purchase friction points are divided into three categories: availability, buying and payment.
Purchase friction may include the following:
- Out-of-stock products
- Hidden costs
- Limited payment options
- Long lines or application process
Consumer pain points that constitute purchase friction
AVAILABILITY
Don't know where to buy
Store too far away
Actual item/price differs from advertised
Takes too long to find the product
Item out of stock
Too many options
Long queues, waits or application process
BUYING
Can't see, touch or try item
Too many steps to complete purchase
Transaction/browsing history not stored
Buyer has to cross devices, channels, locations or pages
Shopping session timed out/cart emptied
Hidden costs at checkout
Unexpected delivery fee
PAYMENT
Limited payment options
Checkout not mobile optimized
Limited trust for online payment
Transaction delay/failure
Not optimized for cross-border payments
Post-purchase friction
The final phase of the consumer journey, post-purchase, covers all the touchpoints after checkout, from delivery to repeat purchase. In this phase, friction refers to any pain point that people experience after a purchase has been made. Post-purchase friction points can be classified under fulfillment, support and repurchase.
Post-purchase friction is imperative to remove as it may hinder customers from repurchasing your product or service and damage loyalty for your brand.
Post-purchase friction may include the following:
- Slow delivery
- Poor customer service
- Poor return service
- Not remembering customer details
89%
of those surveyed expected a brand to respond to them within 24 hours. Yet surprisingly, 56.6% of businesses still can’t be contacted by social media.9
55%
of consumers expect companies to send them personalized offers.10
Most attractive benefits according to consumers:65%Free return shipping54%Package tracking11
Consumer pain points that constitute post-purchase friction
FULFILLMENT
Slow delivery
Customer not home for delivery
Actual item differs from order
Item doesn't meet expectations
Unexpected usage costs
Long collection queue/poor order tracking
Long wait for check-in
SUPPORT
Poor returns/redressal process
No channel for feedback
Customer support delays
Support only accessible through limited channels
Poor customer service
REPURCHASE
No loyalty program
Customer or purchase history not stored
No customer re-engagement
No upgrade/upsell option
What it means for marketers
Build awareness for your brand, product or service during the discovery phase.
Serve personalized, relevant ads to people. Set up your Facebook Pixel and SDK to deliver relevant ads to people based on their past actions, or the actions of those similar to them. Automatically show personalized product recommendations to people who have shown interest in your business using Dynamic Ads.
Display the latest information on product availability and stores during the purchase phase.
Use Dynamic Ads to automatically deliver ads with the latest information on pricing and product availability and Store Visits Objective to show ads to people who are most likely to make an in-store purchase. Make it quicker and easier for people to buy with collection ads and shopping on Instagram. Collection ads let people browse multiple products and features within the ad, even before entering your web store. Tapping on a product leads them directly to the product page for easy checkout. With Shopping on Instagram, you can tag your products on Instagram to instantly display pricing, product details and a CTA leading them directly to the product page for easy checkout.
Offer your customers support and gather feedback during the post-purchase phase.
Use Messenger for Business and WhatsApp for Business to get in touch with your customers easily with tools to help you automate, sort and respond. Also make sure that what’s displayed on your ad or listing accurately represents your product or service, ship your goods on time, preferably with tracking information, and honor any return and exchange policies advertised on your website.
Resources:
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