As promised, Forrester’s Customer Experience Index (CX IndexTM) results for India 2017 are out. We’re excited to see that over-all, brands in India are doing better this year than they did in 2016! Over half the surveyed 36 brands improved their score.

Here’s a quick snapshot of some other key results-

  • Last year’s overall topper (American Express) broke new ground and was the only brand of any industry to enter the hallowed ‘Excellent’ CX category. Congratulations!
  • Based on average CX Index scores, credit cards topped this year, followed by banks and auto/home insurers. Digital-only retailers and traditional retailers brought up the bottom of the list.
  • New frontrunners arose in almost all industries – IDBI Bank in banks, HDFC Ergo in auto/home insurers, Koovs.com in digital-retailers. Scroll to the bottom to see the full list.

For detailed results, refer the India Customer Experience Index, 2017 report (paywall).

PS: We also got attention from the press, for example, here and here.

Brands’ FAQs, Answered

Often, brands that see these results have multiple questions – about their scores, how to use them, and so on. Here’re some of the common queries, and our replies

  • What is the methodology of the survey? Who did you survey, and when?

For the Forrester Data Customer Experience Index Online Survey, India Consumers 2017, Forrester conducted an online survey fielded in May through August 2017 of 9,064 individuals ages 18 and older in metropolitan India (9 cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune). For each brand, individuals surveyed are their customers, who have recently interacted with the brand.

  • How is a brand’s CX Index score calculated?

For each brand, the CX Index score is based on the perceptions of their customers. Participating individuals are queried on three aspects of their experience with the brand – the effectiveness of the experience, its ease, and the emotions related to the experience. Participants are also asked about their intended loyalty based on their specific experience. All these factors go into calculating a brand’s CX Index score (0-100), which is weighted to reflect the CX-loyalty dynamic in each industry.

  •  Are these results valid or representative of my industry and customer-base?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: Yes, these survey samples and results are statistically valid for each industry we cover. Even for industries (such as digital-retailers) that may have a significant customer base in non-metro cities, these results hold good because 50% of their business comes from metros, and typically metro customers have been around longer, and have larger ticket-sizes than their non-metro counterparts.

  • How long have you been running this survey, and who else uses it?

Forrester runs the CX Index benchmark survey across 7 global markets, covering more than 700 brands in 21 industries. Multiple brands across the world have benefitted from these results over the years.

  • Why do these results matter? How can I benefit from them?

Measuring the experience your customers have with you is paramount to be able to improve your CX; it is the first step to becoming customer-obsessed. A holistic measure like the CX Index is especially helpful since it not only covers all aspects of CSAT and NPS, but also helps you understand what drives CX in your industry, benchmark against competition, and slice-and-dice the data according to generic and industry-specific variables.

  • How can I get access to my own/my competition’s score and data?

To get access to the CX Index India results data set, write to forrestercx@forrester.com