Positive customer experience = satisfied customer = loyal customer… Like antibiotics, it’s not automatic!

If the three concepts are correlated, they do not have indisputable cause-and-effect links. Thus, a consumer may have perceived their customer experience as very positive, without necessarily being 100% satisfied with the product. They may also not have absolute loyalty to the brand for various reasons; the first being the conjunctural aspect of their purchase: a "one shot" need. To try to clarify the interactions of the three notions with each other, let's take them one by one…

The customer experience

The customer experience encompasses all stages of the purchasing journey and consists of the different interactions that will emerge between the brand and the consumer throughout this journey. The different stages include pre-sales, the sale itself, and of course, post-sales. It therefore includes a large emotional component. An optimal customer experience is one that has generated a positive feeling throughout the consumer's purchasing journey and will therefore help to maintain, or even strengthen, their relationship with the brand.

Customer satisfaction

The consumer may be satisfied with their customer experience… but then be disappointed with the product or service acquired. However, measuring customer satisfaction provides information on the customer's perception at a given moment. No matter how precise it is, the measure – which takes different forms: surveys, automated solutions like WizVille – is only a reflection of the customer’s state of mind at that point in time. While it should be taken into account, it does not predict in any way the establishment of a lasting relationship – or not – between the customer and the brand. For example: a satisfied customer may still go buy elsewhere THE product that their usual brand does not have in its range…

Customer loyalty

Basically, a customer's loyalty to a brand is measured by the repurchase rate; that is to say, the percentage of consumers who have repeated a purchase after the first one, within a predefined time frame. This measure is as factual as it gets. A second indicator will predict a customer's loyalty by questioning them about their future purchase intentions, on the one hand, and their intentions to "recommend the brand", on the other hand. This measure is based on the "declarative" and therefore requires all the caution attached to the concept.

What links exist between experience, satisfaction, and customer loyalty…?

The link exists, inevitably, but it is complex!
A loyal customer is – among other reasons – because they have been satisfied. However, a satisfied customer is not necessarily loyal. Could the missing link be the positive customer experience? Certainly, because to be loyal, it is highly likely that the customer must be not only satisfied but also emotionally connected to the brand… Thus, satisfaction and experience would only be components of loyalty. They are, however, major components that should not be overlooked!

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