Introduction

The current report is focused on evaluating the noteworthiness of CX (customer experience) to businesses for ensuring their competitiveness. In this regard, by considering Voot and its video streaming services in India, the report will emphasize analysing the efficacy of CX, omnichannel marketing, and the CX process.

1. The importance of customer experience

Roy et al. (2022) defined CX, as the procedure through which an enterprise contacts its clients at every point of a customer’s buying process. Moreover, CX includes all of the experiences that customers have, while they buy anything from an enterprise, which includes their impressions of a brand or its product offerings, the buying procedure, and any after-sales service. Hence, as CX impacts a buyer’s relationship with a company, companies always consider it as a critical aspect of ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty (Manthiou et al. 2020). On the other hand, consumers nowadays are searching for a complete experience from enterprises or brands, including attentive and customised customer care and services, rather than just the features and advantages of products. Concerning this context, a PwC study reflects that CX ranks third in importance among buyers, behind pricing and product quality, with 73% of respondents seeing it as a critical consideration (Iwuozor, 2023).

On a similar note, for an organisation like Voot customer experience has a considerable noteworthiness, which helps it to ensure competitiveness in the Indian online streaming sector. Specifically, it has been observed that the enterprise has been counting extensive competitive rivalry in the Indian online streaming sector from companies like Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, JioTV, Zee5, and others (Refer to Appendix 1). The Indian online streaming sector has been growing rapidly and its current revenue is approximately $4.06 billion, which is predicted to be approximately $5.81 billion in the upcoming four years, as reflected in Figure 1. On the other hand, by improving customer satisfaction through customer experience, it is possible for an organisation like Voot to deal with the market competition (Statista, 2024). Therefore, Voot must focus on CX by stressing elements like user satisfaction and assuring customers’ repurchase intention. Additionally, an improved CX can help the enterprise to stand out in the competitive online streaming services market of India.

2. Consumer persona creation

A consumer persona is an organisation’s thorough interactive depiction of the essential characteristics of an audience who utilises the brand (Saleem et al. 2022). A thorough understanding of the market study and the creation of a consumer persona is necessary to comprehend and represent the distinctive customer of the corresponding product or service. The consumer persona, which is a visual depiction of an ideal client with certain desires, objectives, and pain points, plays a crucial role in the development of CX strategy (De Keyser et al. 2020).

A customer profile for Voot’s video streaming services is outlined below, between the ages 30-35:

Table 1: Consumer Persona for Voot

3. Mapping the customer journey

The customer journey is an illustration of the sensory experiences that customers have with the consumer support staff and the company. The customer journey is an important consideration while referring to CX strategy since it facilitates customers’ purchases more efficiently along a brand’s connections.

In this connection, the “consumer mapping journey” of Voot’s customers is reflected in the table below.

Table 2: Consumer mapping journey for Voot

4. Omnichannel marketing

According to Gerea et al. (2021), in recent years one of the most recognised marketing approaches is omnichannel marketing, which encourages businesses to have a more customer-centric approach in their marketing activities and ensure the improvement of CX. The primary objective of omnichannel marketing is concerned with providing buyers with seamless experiences when they contact an enterprise online or in-store. Similarly, the findings of Churina and Marsasi, (2023) reflect that omnichannel marketing aims to boost, revitalise, and refresh consumers’ experiences while they shop in-person or online. In this regard, it is notable that along with using traditional marketing methods including promotions on television, radio, and newspapers, enterprises nowadays emphasize using various online platforms like Instagram, YouTube, organisational websites, and mobile apps.

Moreover, while emphasising the role of customisation in omnichannel marketing, it is noted that in order to personalise the CX, enterprises can collect data about customer behaviour from several platforms by using omnichannel marketing strategies. In addition, they can enhance their chances of retention and conversion by customising their marketing-related messages and services to individual consumers by acknowledging their preferences and behavioural traits (Gutierrez, 2023). Customisation or personalisation plays a positive role in the omnichannel marketing efforts of businesses, as personalisation is always considered at the heart of omnichannel strategies. Customers nowadays expect a more personalised experience at every channel or touch point when they contact a brand or an organisation (Gupta, 2024). Thus, it is acknowledged that customisation is a critical element of omnichannel marketing efforts that can contribute to improve overall CX.

While concerning Voot’s online streaming services in India, the enterprise has been observed to consider the omnichannel marketing strategy. In this regard, the enterprise has been utilising various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and others, along with its website and mobile application to improve customer experiences. For instance, through Instagram the organisation has been positively interacting with customers and it has approximately 1 million followers on Instagram (Instagram, 2024) (Refer to Appendix 2). Moreover, along with direct traffic, the organisation has also been ensuring effective traffic on its website through referrals and organic search. For evidence, as of February 2024, direct traffic accounted for 39.78% of desktop visits to voot.com, making it the leading traffic source (Similarweb, 2024). Furthermore, referrals came in second with 32.23% of traffic (Similarweb, 2024).

Figure 3: Voot’s customer engagement in India

(Source: Basuroy, 2022)

Most importantly, through a great focus on omnichannel marketing, the enterprise has considered a “freemium” strategy in the Indian market, which is a mix of subscription given and advertising strategies, which is not only helping it to improve customer experience but also assisting it to deal with the market competition (Jha, 2021). As a result, the organisation has ensured improved CX and customer engagement levels in this particular market. For evidence, approximately 37% of users of Voot in India spend approximately 3 to 9 hours (Basuroy, 2022). Therefore, with an effective focus on using various marketing channels, Voot has improved CX by ensuring a seamless consumer journey, which in turn, ensures its growth.

5. CX performance metrics

Customer experience (CX) performance metrics are noted to be the quantitative as well as qualitative measures that are being used to assess the needs and expectations of the customers through their interaction and service providing capabilities within the competitive market (McColl-Kennedy et al. 2019). Thereby, the metrics are noted to be highly effective in terms of measuring different factors such as satisfaction level, engagement of the customers and overall experience quality. For example, it includes different aspects such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), customer effort score (CES), churn rate and Customer Experience (CE) (Patti et al. 2020). Similarly, CX performance metrics have been found to be highly effective in terms of providing valuable insight to the organisational management into the areas of strength and weakness within a particular market-based on a particular segment of customers.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) is noted to be one of the most effective methods that helps in measuring the ease with which customers can accomplish tasks or resolve issues when interacting with an organizational management (Svensson, 2023). In order to effectively calculate the CES, customers are involved in surveys to rate the level of Satisfaction with the initiatives implemented by the management to resolve problems. The average score is then determined; it often falls between 1 and 5 or between 1 and 7, with higher scores denoting less effort on the part of the consumer (Svensson, 2023). In order to preserve good client connections, this enables organisational management to comprehend the calibre of service being rendered to end users.

Customer Engagement (CE)

Customer Engagement (CE) is noted to be a performance metric that refers to the extent and quality of interaction between the customers and the brand across different touchpoints (Vinerean and Opreana, 2021). Apparently, it enables organisational management with the ability to effectively understand the depth of connection and involvement with customers. Customer Engagement (CE) metric focuses on evaluating factors such as satisfaction, loyalty, advocacy and retention of the brand in fostering meaningful relationships with the valuable customers within the market (Vinerean and Opreana, 2021). In order to preserve good client connections, this enables organisational management to comprehend the calibre of service being rendered to end users. In this way, it facilitates management’s comprehension of the customer journey’s pain areas.

Recommendation

India has been found to be one of the competitive video streaming markets around the globe, where numerous platforms are focused on implementing different strategies in order to grab customer attention (Puthiyakath and Goswami, 2021). Customer Effort Score (CES) and Customer Engagement (CE) metrics can be recommended to Voot to effectively maintain customer satisfaction within the competitive market in determining success. For example, CES can be highly effective in terms of providing the ease of navigating through the platform and assessing content. Similarly, customer engagement, personalised suggestions, and content curation efficacy are measured by CE metrics, which assess the level of user involvement. Maintaining an elevated CE guarantees ongoing user engagement and happiness in a market full with options, which lowers churn and increases brand advocacy.

6. CX processes in different industries

The idea behind CX Critical Success Factors (CSFs) is essentially an approach that centers on the methods that managers and planners utilise to effectively pinpoint and recognise the physical elements that will ultimately determine the success of a business. In this regard, the processes that will be assessed for Voot are Structure, People, and Measurement.

Structure

Voot is an online video-on-demand portal for watching films and TV series. In this context, the viewers can watch an infinite number of films and TV programs on the organisation’s platform, which focuses on four content pillars: “humour”, “reality”, “drama”, and “kids” (Ahuja, 2021). Through resolving problems and meeting demands, Voot’s management has taken the lead in attempting to enhance CX. Voot is attempting to develop a psychological connection with customers by employing its efficient emphasis on CX (Adgully, 2020). The company has been able to reach one million users annually owing to this sort of program (James, 2021).

People

The people of the organisations are focused on enhancing organisational position in the marketplace along with having a better commitment to their content creation. It has been established that Voot always prioritises its customer base and makes an effort to meet their needs. To address the requirements of customers in the Indian market, Voot, for instance, has concentrated on the “Freemium strategy” (Jha, 2021). In addition, Voot has been emphasising staff engagement (Viacom18, 2022). In addition, the company has made an effort to offer its workers better working conditions where they can develop their talents, develop novel concepts, and contribute to the development of the company (Viacom18, 2022).

Measurement

Measurement plays a very critical role in organisation to influence the business strategy while balancing customer and employee satisfaction (Mio et al. 2022). Regarding this, it is noted that Voot has been focused on improving its business strategy with better financial performance in operating efficiency through measurement. Voot has been increasing its earnings over time, and by 2027, it is projected to have 400 million active users every month (Sarkar, 2022). Contrary to this, Voot has not been able to fully enhance the customer experience, as there are currently concerns about the company’s offerings (Complaint Room, 2021). It is already understood that there is a growing concern about changing consumer demands and requirements, which is challenging businesses to retain their consumers. Therefore, it is suggested that Voot should focus on improving its strategy while having a better understanding of customer requirements and needs.

Moreover, Facebook is regarded as being one of the biggest names in the worldwide social media market, especially when compared to Voot, which is a video streaming company. Facebook has begun employing certain advertising techniques as the dominant player in the social media industry to attract prospective customers to its site (Kano et al. 2022). Compared to Voot, Facebook places a greater priority on enabling its customers to use a social media network website to interact with people around the world. Additionally, Facebook remains committed to offering users high-security guidelines regarding the information submitted to the social media platform (Murire et al. 2020). Other than this, Facebook’s focus on implementing marketing to enhance reaction from all users on its platform constitutes one of its CX success factors.

7. Conclusion

The overall discussion highlights the noteworthiness of CX for an organisation like Voot, as improved CX can ensure the improvement of customer satisfaction and loyalty. On the other hand, through the focus on omnichannel marketing, Voot ensures customer engagement in the Indian market. However, Voot has been recommended to emphasize using CES and CE metrics to efficiently maintain customer satisfaction in the Indian market. The organisation has a notable focus on CSFs like structure, people, and measurement, which positively influence its competitiveness in the Indian Market.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Competitors of Voot in India

(Source: Statista, 2024)

Appendix 2: Voot’s Instagram profile

(Instagram, 2024)