Leader in
the digital world
Excellent customer experience, including digital
Shopify, the Canadian platform for online shopping, recorded one million dollars in sales per minute during Black Friday at its peak. Forbes described how several companies experienced impressive growth in online success that weekend. This at the same time as physical stores, which are becoming increasingly empty.
Online success
Digitization has been on the rise for years. First a screen replaced paper, now you don’t even have to leave the house to do your daily shopping. For consumers this increases convenience: everything is within reach and comparing hardly takes any time. For businesses, the challenge lies deeper, especially when selling luxury products. The high-touch experience of a luxury purchase clashes with the self-service nature of e-commerce.
Anyone who walks into a luxury store receives guidance. A salesperson thinks with you, gives advice, brings products to the cash register, packs them with care and completes the visit with attention. An optimal customer experience. Online you have to figure it all out yourself and that personal guidance is missing. To strengthen the digital experience, many companies first opted for omnichannel retail: multiple contact points that together form one brand experience. For example, an ad in the newspaper, being available by phone and the presence of a physical store. As a company, the challenge is to keep the message the same on each channel so that the customer feels they are dealing with one company on each of these channels. The customer then chooses the channel they prefer depending on time, location and purpose.
Rajeev Rai, vice president at Neiman Marcus Group, goes one step further than omnichannel. He aims for seamless retail: an experience that reaches the same high level at any time, on any device and in any app. Personalized, relevant interaction is at the heart of that approach.
Big data
Research by BMW Netherlands shows that the quality of contact with employees is the strongest predictor of customer satisfaction. Online communication offers fewer opportunities for that personal interaction. That’s why companies like Neiman Marcus are investing heavily in big data. Using customer profiles and search data, they predict which products match someone’s preferences.
Albert Heijn works in a similar way. A linked bonus card records purchases and connects them to other customer data. The customer then receives personalized offers that match previous choices.
According to Rai, at the core, there is no difference between online and offline sales. The customer’s location does not matter, as long as the overall experience remains compelling and personal.
Want to delve further into developing the optimal customer experience? Then check out the training course Customer-focused Working with Impact.
