Introduction
The world of paying for goods and services is changing dramatically. What was once an anonymous, transactional experience predicated merely on convenience and cash is changing into a more personal, deeper relationship between a brand, a store, and a customer. The personalized experiences companies like Amazon, Netflix, or Disney deliver have created an expectation among customers that every shopping experience—whether for clothes, groceries, movies, books, or software— will be tailored personally to you, engineered for your convenience, and enhanced by an infinite stockroom.
Digital agency Wunderman recently released a study about the concept of “Wantedness.”2 Wantedness isn’t about how much the customer wants the brand’s goods—few brands, if any, can demand loyalty based solely on the merchandise they’re offering anymore. Wantedness is about how much the brand wants the customer and how far the brand will go to please the customer and make her feel wanted. According to Wunderman’s research, 79 percent of U.S. consumers wanted brands to demonstrate that they cared about them before they would even consider purchasing anything.