49% customers concerned about data privacy, Accenture study finds

A new report from Accenture has found that, whilst 44% of consumers are frustrated when companies fail to deliver personalised shopping experiences, 49% are concerned about personal data privacy as they subscribe to intelligent services designed to predict their needs.

The thirteenth annual Accenture Strategy Global Consumer Pulse Research explored the attitudes of over 25,000 consumers about their desire for more intuitive, technology-driven brand experiences.

“As technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital assistants become more sophisticated and mainstream, companies are creating new touch points, offerings and services that intelligently anticipate and flex to their customer’s precise needs, offering a level of hyper-relevance not experienced before,” said Robert Wollan, senior managing director and Advanced Customer Strategy global lead at Accenture Strategy.

Almost half of the US consumers surveyed said they would use ‘smart-reordering’ services where intelligent sensors in the home detect when a product is running low and automatically re-orders it. While 89% are satisfied with the experience, 40% say it can feel uncomfortable when technology starts to anticipate customer needs.

Digital trust remains a critical barrier to enabling hyper-relevant experiences. 92% of US consumers say that it is very important that companies protect the privacy of their personal information.

Whereas, 43% of US consumers fear intelligent new services will gain too information about themselves. Overall, 66% want companies to earn their trust by being more open and transparent with how their information is being used.

“Digital trust will become increasingly challenging for companies to achieve as they look to capture new categories of customer data, such as biometric, geo-location and even genomic data, in their drive for greater relevance,” said Kevin Quiring, managing director, Advanced Customer Strategy North America lead, Accenture Strategy. “Customer concerns will inevitably rise, so it’s critical that companies have strong data security and privacy measures in place, they give customers full control over their data, and are transparent with how they use it.”

The study found that in order to establish digital trust and pivot hyper-relevance, companies should consider being more transparent. Customers must be given full access to their data and companies must ensure that it remains protected.

Hyper-relevant companies need to invest in predictive analytics, collaborate with an ecosystem of partners to capture real-time customer insight, and collect data in new ways to understand specific customer needs.