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In what’s described as the most “detailed research ever conducted to measure the consumer response to a digital communication network”, the US-based Platt Retail Institute has published a new Working Paper centred specifically on a bank branch.

According to Steven Keith Platt, Director and Founder of the Platt Retail Institute, “The importance of the customer experience at a bank has been established. This is leading many institutions to evaluate methods to enhance the bank branch environment. Of significance are digital communication networks (“DCN”). Yet such networks can be expensive to deploy and maintain. Therefore, prior to making such an investment, the benefits should be evaluated.”

In their new Working Paper, PRI have therefore tested and analyzed the impact on consumer attitudes and behaviour resulting from exposure to a DCN. The objective: to provide detailed analytics relating to consumer response to a DCN delivered message stimulus. This was accomplished by gauging impact and awareness, benchmarking the customer bank branch experience, measuring the influence on branch productivity, and track changes in select product/service revenue/transactional activity.

The test lasted 90 days and involved ten bank branches: 5 Test, 5 Control. It included two separate waves of exit interviews involving 750 individuals. 38 Digital cameras were installed in the branches, and recorded 17,000 hours of video analyzing the behaviour of 85,000 customers. In addition, the test bank provided an extensive amount of primary data.

In summary, the major findings by PRI are presented as follows:

DCN Impact and Awareness
Found that the DCN was effective in stimulating consumer message awareness.
Customer Bank Experience
Customer satisfaction increased as a result of the DCN. This supports the conclusion that the DCN had a positive affect on the customer experience. Wait-time perceptions, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, likelihood of recommending the Bank, and the level of service compared with expectation were all positively impacted.
Branch Productivity
Branch productivity was positively impacted. The presence of a DCN can increase branch transaction processing, resulting in reducing branch labour costs.
Product/Service Awareness and Revenue/Transactional Activity
The following are our findings based upon DCN delivered messages:
1. A positive impact on product/service awareness.
2. For 7 of 8 promoted products/services, purchase/usage intent was influenced.
3. For 4 of 8 promoted products/services, customer behaviour was impacted.
4. The impact on customer behaviour relating to transactional activities was greater than on product/service purchases.
5. When incorporated into an integrated marketing campaign, new customer product/service sales increased by more than current customer account activity.
6. In the majority of cases, the Test branches outperformed the Control branches in revenue generation of non-promoted products.

Copies of this Working Paper can be purchased from the Platt Retail Institute. The Working Paper is 70 pages, contains 67 charts and sells for U.S. $1,000.