In today’s world, consumers have to make decisions among hundreds, if not thousands, of choices every day: which book to read, where to shop, which products to buy. These decisions require a tremendous mental effort from the consumer. Yet, it seems that marketers are still pursuing more products, a wealthier selection, better value for money, more features, information, and promotional activities. Investing in new technologies, products, and services to create more value for consumers seems like a good strategy, but our research has found a simple truth: simplification is often the best choice.
We conducted an extensive and systematic literature review, examining hundreds of studies on customer preferences, and the results show that the vast majority of studies point out that simplicity is one of the factors consumers value the most. For example, a survey conducted by the well-known brand consulting firm Siegel+Gale, which covered nine countries and more than 15,000 consumers, showed that brands that were seen as providing the most straightforward, seamless experience not only had the strongest stock performance but also attracted the most loyal customers.
While creating a simple experience might sound easy, the implementation is quite complex. Through our research, extensive consulting practice, and countless conversations with customers and marketers, we have identified four interrelated steps that can help companies deliver the seamless and effortless experience that customers expect:
- Define and express the meaning of simplicity
The first step is to clearly define what “simplicity” means for your company. There are many dimensions to simplicity, and it requires taking a “less is more” approach to rethink product development, sales, and marketing efforts, reducing complexity in product lines, pricing discounts, and advertising. Determine how simplification can benefit certain areas of the business based on the unique context and environment of the company. Then, leadership needs to clearly communicate these goals and visions, incorporating them into the company’s value propositions and culture, to ensure that employees understand and act accordingly. - Build simple products and customer journeys
While the simplicity of the product itself is crucial, it is equally important to build the ease of the customer journey from product discovery, purchase, to use. This involves designing sales and marketing processes to make the purchase process as smooth as possible.
To prioritize simplicity throughout the customer journey, here are some key questions for self-reflection:
- How can we make it easier for customers to understand and evaluate the products we offer? Is it possible to simplify the offer of products, features, or performance while maintaining the effectiveness of the solution?
- How can we initiate targeted marketing campaigns to ensure that we communicate with customers in their language, at the right place and at the right time when they need it most?
- How can we make pricing mechanisms clearer and more consistent? Pricing based on loyalty, season, purchase location, channel, or demographics may increase profits, but it can also add to the cognitive complexity for customers.
- How can we improve store layout and apply point-of-sale technology to optimize the shopping experience, for example, by automating recommendations of related products, mobile payments, and other tools for smooth shopping?
Although the above are just some examples, there are so many opportunities to simplify the customer journey. Whether it’s integrating similar products into a single item, investing in convenient digital payment methods, or simply adopting round-number pricing to reduce mental load, any measure aimed at easing the customer’s psychological burden will enhance their experience and improve brand perception.
Even though Apple has discontinued most iPod models, focusing instead on more advanced new devices like the iPhone and iPad, they believe there is still a necessity to keep the iPod Touch on the market. This is because even though the iPod Touch may not be as technologically advanced compared to Apple’s other products, it still meets the specific needs of certain customers—something other new products cannot achieve.
In the same vein, Netflix combines an extremely simplified pricing structure and user interface with a relatively complex product assortment. While a simplified design should be a starting point, it is important to recognize that adding a certain level of complexity in some specific cases can actually enhance the customer experience. Behind a simple customer journey often lies a complex design thought process.
In the pursuit of providing precise services to customers, businesses might unconsciously create overly extensive options and features. However, customers generally prefer to make quick and simple decisions rather than search for the so-called “perfect” choice. Therefore, once a business consciously decides to prioritize simplification internally and takes this as a starting point to consider the entire customer journey, accepts internal complexity, and allows for necessary exceptions, they can take the first successful step in creating a truly smooth and simple experience for the customer.
