Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have had to transform how they interact and assist their consumers completely. Many retail or consumer goods businesses have had to switch from traditional, in-person shopping experiences to digital buying. This transition is never the easiest for either party, but businesses must adapt and step up their game when accommodating and providing a seamless shopping experience for their customers.
I recently participated in IBM’s live webinar series, LinkedIn LIVE, to talk about customer experience, and whether good customer service is enough to provide a sincere customer experience during these unprecedented times. Here are tips discussed to ensure customers receive the best shopping experience in conjunction with an unexpected, digital switch.
Stay One Step Ahead of Consumer Expectations
With or without a pandemic, customer expectations are always evolving, especially as the experience between physical and digital shopping is converging. Bridge that gap, make it convenient, consistent, and channel-agnostic of how and where the customer shops. It may seem tricky molding these two together, but shifting the focus towards understanding and serving your consumers is the main priority.
Understanding Customers and the Experiences They Demand
With your customer in the center of it all, the last thing your business wants to do is create a poor customer experience. In the midst of the pandemic, it is paramount to provide your customers with the most safest and convenient way to shop with your brand. For example, curbside pick-up has become extremely resourceful to consumers during these unprecedented times. If your business failed to deliver a good curbside order experience, the chances of retaining this customer for the future are slim.
Modern consumers hyper-adopt and hyper-abandon brands because many of the products they shop for are available at another retailer. Customers remember the last best experience they had with a brand, they will stay or convert if you meet or exceed that experience. Find ways to be very relevant when you target and market to your existing and future customers. Offering a loyalty program to your customers is necessary. Take advantage of the customer activity data to power your marketing and personalization engines.
Communication is Key
With heightened tensions and greater levels of confusion than usual, stabilizing communication across all touchpoints of your business ensures consumers that there is a business they can rely on to help them. Notify customers on their order status, new product arrivals, inventory positions, delivery, and tracking information. Retailers can use multiple ways of communication such as emails, text, and social media. Remember, every touchpoint or communication opportunity you get with your customer and don’t forget to market your brand or products. Comforting your consumers through constant communication can make for an effective and incredible customer experience.
Creating the Opportunity to Excel
These times are difficult to comprehend and the path to purchasing includes many shifts, road bumps, and distractions. If businesses focus more on providing the customer with the best customer experience possible in conjunction with the state of the world, then the opportunities for both consumers and businesses will be endless. In a way, these disruptions are teaching us to be innovative and explore ways to make the businesses operate more efficiently and bring value to their customers.
To find out more, contact our commerce experts today.
