New-age digital customers are changing, so are the ways to keep them hooked. Today’s customers in Asia, like those elsewhere, expect seamless and consistent omnichannel experiences along with the best quality and price. Thanks to a plethora of touch-points, selling is no longer a linear process and requires a constant connect with customers. Customer engagement now rides heavily on technology, which, in turn, drives each step of the buying decision and beyond.
As retailers struggle to come up to speed with fast-changing customer behavior, the threat from new-age global digital players has become very real – the disruption has happened in a very short time.
A big challenge for retailers involves bridging the gap between what they have to offer and what customers want. A Forrester survey shows that while 60% of retailers believe their company provides an exceptional customer experience, only 31% of customers reported having consistently positive experiences.
Retailers are also struggling to effectively utilize digital capabilities in serving customers. Around 84% retailers in the survey rated themselves over 8 (on a scale of 10) in digital maturity of the services they provide to their customers. But a whopping 51% reported challenges in leveraging those capabilities to provide consistent customer experiences.
Walk alongside, not behind
The customer is well and truly the king now. Retailers must adopt a customer-centric approach. An ideal customer-centric approach will ensure that the focus is on enhancing customer experiences while simultaneously understanding customer behavior and attitude.
The ideal starting point towards this goal is to review the digital customer touch-points and assess whether customer interactions are designed to enhance both customer experiences as well as the organization’s ability to understand customer intent and preferences.
While the fundamentals of product, price and service are just as relevant as ever, a 360-degree approach to understanding customer interests, attitudes and behaviors is necessary for retailers to meet customer expectations.
Attention – the first step of the A-I-D-A (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) model — is being grabbed by retailers who offer exciting technology experiences to customers. The likes of Alibaba and Myer introduced virtual shopping experiences earlier this year, allowing customers to wear headsets and enter virtual stores to browse through products. Several retailers are leveraging personalized products, interactive digital displays, touch-and-go payment applications, body scanners and magic mirrors, all of which have the potential to bridge the gap between the online and the offline worlds, accelerating the promise of a “smart” shopping experience that recognizes and delights the new-age consumer.
Accelerate towards omnichannel 2.0 with caution
While the basics of omnichannel retailing must be in place, customers today demand excellence. This means even one part of the experience falling short of expectations can undo the greater experience retailers may have delivered across other channels.
Checking the box too quickly on omnichannel programs, before ironing out the issues with in-store operations, can lead to poor customer experiences, low adoption rates of these services, and even customer attrition. Retailers must look at their store environments to see where opportunities exist for improving not only digital experiences, but also the interactions and processes that form the key components of the shopper experience.
Strengthen the purchase beyond purchase
Buying is no longer a sequence of steps. There is much more back-and-forth, many comparisons, multiple channels and several decision points – all driven by technology. It is important to bring the customer back too. Customers are excited by technology, and technology becomes a companion to customers in their path to purchase and beyond.
Retailers must design experiences that encourage shoppers to come back. Post-purchase experience is one of the important touch-points that can influence customers and inspire loyalty. The first 24 hours after a purchase is the ideal time to build trust by delivering more content or asking for feedback. That helps capture emotional highs – both positive and negative – and translate them into better actions. Negative outcomes can be turned into opportunities to connect with customers and positive outcomes can be used to strengthen relationships.
A big opportunity awaits
Highly connected customers bring with them very high expectations, settling for nothing less than the best experiences and deals. This creates a lot of opportunities as well as challenges for retailers to gain and retain those customers. Successful retailers will be the ones who leverage technology to engage with customers – well beyond buying – in innovative ways, focus on all touch-points to impress customers and glean insights, and provide a seamless, integrated experience across channels.
by Singaravelu Ekambaram, Global Delivery Head, Retail and Consumer Goods, Cognizant