The customer is always right. Continuous feedback from the people buying (or not buying products) is a key driver of efforts in optimising your services. With the omni-channel buzz soaring in the halls of head offices everywhere in most realms of retail, it might be useful to shed a light on what’s being left behind in the shadows.
You know that technology is there to help, and you know that keeping up with the latest trends will get you far in keeping up with competition. Although, the long-term win for retailers today is not only to be found in following the omni-channel gospel. There is a more substantial and, to many organisations, overwhelming task at hand.
Empower your front-line staff
While much focus has been on merging the best of technology and online shopping with your physical business, there is still a well-documented ripple effect between in-person interaction and customer experience. After all, your front-line staff is the face of your brand – and they are the only thing online stores can’t give their customers. Creating an unforgettable experience for shoppers thus requires HQ to obtain a set of business processes that maximize on this unique ability. Back to this later…
Let the customers talk
As emphasized in a recent article by Computer Weekly, the old bulky solutions of yesterday are still an active part of many corporations who in return suffer from not having the agile collected overview and actionability. And with competition pressing forward on new technology, the disadvantages are piling up for retailers with legacy systems.
Here's a couple of in-store technologies that are headlining these years:
- In-store eye tracking: Take note of where people are looking and keep optimising those planograms.
- Wifi tracking: Use your store's wireless networks to map and gain insight in the overall or distinct behaviour of customers.
- Virtual reality: Give your customers access to your store while home, or give them access to their home while in your store. Imagination knows no bounds.
- Face-recognition: Identifying your customers by name is a key component in purveying that personal shopping experience. Scary to some. Fun for others.
The back office challenge
Wait, didn’t we promise you 5 things? As we insinuated earlier in this article, there is still a gap most retailers have yet to bridge. Total retail experience is more than fancy tech and customer tracking software. While in-store tech has undergone massive innovation the latter years and the connected CX data handling in HQ likewise, the internal administration of e.g. compliance checks still needs massive focus in many retail chains.
The logical next level, after suiting up your in-store tech and making the most of omni-channel efforts, is to take a look at the technology now available to HQ. Hence, the 5th item on our list of ways to improve your retail business:
- Mobile compliance audits: Make sure that front-line staff are ready for customers’ demands every day as well as effectively launch concepts and campaigns across stores.
Taking action on data
Cracking the code in a changed retail landscape, smart retailers must develop a customer-centric strategy that instantly acts upon key insights about their customers; all these gems of knowledge thrown your way in terms of customer behaviour, the positive and negative feedback, the things to do more of and things to change. When the customers are providing the insight for what may referred to as optimum practice - the output needs to be handled and actions need to be taken.
So on the receiving end, HQ's task is to structure the ongoing adjustment of everything from marketing materials to general corporate guidelines for all stores.
A seamless experience
By closing the gap between HQ and the stores, retailers can gain a competitive advantage over eCommerce pure players and enable the organization to provide customers with seamless experiences across stores, web and mobile devices. For retailers and their sales people, a store experience that is designed with the customer in mind will help to increase revenues. According to a Salesforce Desk study quoted in Kissmetrics: “up to 60 percent of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience.” It’s clear that now is a good time to solidify your relationship with your customers, but it’s up to HQ to take charge.
Takeaway
So what can you do to win the customers' hearts in the advent of online stores?
The solution is staggeringly simple, but not easy to deliver: good customer experience. New technology may help to facilitate what is important – the human factor. Hiring, training and retaining staff are obviously important topics, but there is more to be done. The front-line staff must also be empowered with information and tools to help them live up to the customers’ demands every single day.
