Arvato has collaborated with Retail Week to explore how retail brands are transforming their business models to meet the challenges of the pandemic and evolving consumer needs.
What does the new consumer look like? How are retailers driving them to spend? And what part does customer experience play in winning their loyalty? We answered these answers and more in our new report ‘CX Decoded: How the UK’s top multichannel retailers are investing to win consumer spend’.
In a new article with Retail Week, we highlight the five key steps from the report that retailers should follow to create a world-class customer experience, to drive sales in 2021 and beyond. These include scaling up ecommerce, focussing on the multichannel experience, investing in customer service, prioritising deliveries and letting data lead key decision making. We also hear from experts from QVC, SeaSalt, Waterstones, Hotel Chocolat and Kingfisher.
Here’s some snippets:
Scaling up ecommerce
“Swathes of consumers who would previously have opted to only shop in stores are now digitally literate, awakened to the benefits of shopping online. So retailers need to scale their online businesses with the right people and skills in place, and their websites optimised for both desktop and mobile – the latter ended 2020 with an increase in sales of 73%. Social channels will also need to be incorporated, so that retailers are speaking to customers in the digital spaces they are spending their time in.”
Focussing on the multichannel experience
“Customers will inevitably return to high streets around the country, but when they do stores will need to appeal to two very different camps: those searching for unbeatable prices and those looking for differentiated experience, whether that be a sense of ‘community’, ‘exclusivity’ or retailers and brands with ‘purpose’ and green credentials. Retailers that offer the best customer experience across all channels will be the ones that will win.”
Investing in customer service
“Customer service agents need to be technologically empowered to help customers in a channel-agnostic way, able to carry the customer journey across multiple platforms, from social channels through to the retail website, face-to-face and on the phone. This will, of course, also require in-depth product and service training.
“Meanwhile, in the background, AI-powered chatbots will serve simpler and routine enquiries, allowing retailers’ human customer service agents to spend more time with customers.”
Prioritising deliveries
“Delivery has long been a key battleground in retail. Often it is the last touchpoint a consumer has with a brand and one that makes – and leaves – the biggest impression. None of this is possible, however, without a clear, 360 view of the customer, stock and carriers.”
Letting data lead key decision making
“With retailers facing greater network complexity and under greater pressure to offer a seamless service across channels, they will need to improve their analytical capabilities to ensure effective decision making and strong execution.”
You can read the full article on Retail Week here
