Market research firm Global Industry Analysts valued the worldwide customer engagement management solutions market at $15 billion in 2020 and expects it to reach $31.1 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual rate of 12.5 percent.
GIA defines customer engagement as the process by which companies maximize their interaction with customers through various channels for building and strengthening customer relationships. It includes marketing campaigns, creation and posting of new content on websites, and outreach through social media platforms, mobile devices, and wearables.
The popular digital channels of engagement include email, text messaging, social media, live chats, webinars, podcasts, augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR), IoT, mobile apps, chatbots and voice assistants, it said in the report. AI chatbots and voice assistants give immediate response to customers service or product inquiries, thus providing a gratifying engagement experience. Big data technologies help in making engagements more personal and tailored to individual preferences.
Customer engagement is emerging as one of the most effective methods of customer retention and becoming a key focus area for small as well as large organizations across the globe, GIA analysts concluded in the report, noting that against the backdrop of widespread digitalization of marketing, the ability of companies to interact with potential and existing customers through various digital channels to build relationships is growing in importance, so much so, it has become crucial for competitive success in the marketplace. Fully engaged customers demonstrate loyalty and buy more, even during tough economic conditions, they said further.
Geographically, GIA analysts found that the United States holds the largest share (32.3 percent) of the total worldwide market at $5.5 billion. China<, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of $4 billion in 2026. Japan and Canada are forecast to grow at 9.7 percent and 11.7 percent respectively through 2026. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 11.1 percent CAGR while the rest of Europe will reach $1.4 billion by 2026.
Of the total market, the solutions component is projected to grow at 11.2 percent CAGR to reach $22.6 billion by 2026, while the services segment is expected to contribute 15.5 percent CAGR for the next seven years, accounting for a 28.3 percent share of the total market.
The report says there are 444 companies active in the customer engagement management solutions space, but identified Aspect Software, Avaya, Calabrio, Creatio, CRMnext, eGain Eptica, Freshworks, Genesys, IBM, Ifs-Mplsystems, Lithium Technologies, Microsoft, NICE, Nuance Communications, OpenText, Oracle, Pegasystems, Pitney Bowes, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, SugarCRM, Verint, and Zendesk as the industry leaders.