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Are You Working On Your Customer Experience Shelf Life?

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The advent of modern technology has added a new dimension to the way retail businesses operate. There has been a significant shift from product or operation based retailing to a more customer centric one. Focus on customer experience has become the new norm and the prime necessity for every retail business for sustenance and growth. This is a new challenge for retailers – to constantly meet expectations and thus sustain the customer experience ‘shelf life’.

Customers today, have the power of choice – a widespread range of products and alternatives, an unending list of retailers and multiple channels to shop from – they can choose from and use several permutations and combinations, thus forcing the imperative need for retailers to constantly deliver the best customer experience throughout the retail customer journey.

Every product has a shelf life, some last long and some don’t. So also, the customer experience has a shelf life; but unlike products, retailers can work towards extending its length and retaining it. To do this, retailers need to quickly adapt to latest industry trends. They must enhance their business models by allowing infusion of emerging technologies in their operations. Below are a few tips on how this could be done:

–         having omni-channel capabilities for ensuring overall presence

–         using mobile POS counters for quick customer service

–         acquiring and using customer feedback to enhance the shopping experience

–         employing effective CRM solutions to foster brand loyalty

–         planning and executing customer centric marketing and promotions campaigns

–         using the right tools for merchandise and inventory management

–         engaging with the customers using social media and other channels

–         capturing, analyzing and integrating real-time business data to

In this dynamic, technology influenced and highly competitive retail environment, it is essential for retail businesses to stand out and surpass the competition in delivering and sustaining customer experience thereby, working towards longer customer experience shelf lives. This will enable retailers to not only retain existing customers, but also acquire more by virtue of goodwill fostered amongst the current ones.

Understanding The 5 Stages Of The Retail Customer Journey

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It is of prime importance for retailers to track the retail journey of their customer in order to make the right moves and provide better customer service. It gives them an opportunity to align their strategies effectively to the customer journey road-map. Given the latest developments and innovations in retail, the customers of today are spoilt for choice and options. All this seems to make the customer journey very complex, however it can be construed that the journey traverses 5 fundamental stages.

Research – The trigger to every purchase is the intention to acquire that particular product that is desired or needed. This leads the customers into the first stage of the journey, which is research. They research the various aspects of the desired product such as its cost, features and specifications, alternatives and so on through means and methods available. Additionally, they also research about the retail companies offering these products thus making it important for the businesses to have an omni-channel presence, be relevant and have an edge over the competition when the customers are researching.

Identification and Consideration – Once the research is over, customers analyze the information they have gathered. Based on their inferences, they narrow down their options for the product as well as for the retailer from whom they intend to procure it. Further, they compare the options they have narrowed down to and consider the one that they feel is the best. The impact that the retail businesses manage to cast during the customers’ research will decide whether they fall into the consideration bracket of the customers or not.

Transaction – This is where the customer acquisition is realized. It is at this stage where the actual purchase happens – the customers buy the product and pay the stipulated amount for it. Though it looks like a simple process of give and take between the retail businesses and the customers, it is not merely that. There are other aspects that make the process complicated and critical leading into the next stage.

Experience – From the customers’ point of view, if the transaction process was simple, easy, engaging and left a positive influence, it can be said that they have had a good experience. This is very important for the retail businesses as customer experience is one of the key ingredients in establishing a retailer-customer long-term relationship.

Retention – After establishing the relationship with the customers, the retail businesses need to build on it further. The longevity of this relationship could very well be the ability of the retailers to retain and extract more revenue from the existing customers. Thus the criticality lies in not only delivering the right experience in terms of deliverables and processes, but also sustaining those efforts and even exceeding the expectations at times. This will help foster loyalty among the customers and build goodwill through positive word-of-mouth, which the retail businesses can benefit from.

So is your retail business making the right impact at every stage of the customer journey?

Emerging Retail Trends In Southeast Asia

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ETP retail-in-southeast-asia

The retail markets of Southeast Asia today offer a range of opportunities, depending on investor appetite for risk and maturity. Favourable demographics including a young earning population and the region’s high tourism potential contributes to rapidly growing economies and mature retail markets that in turn lead to the creation of new shopping venues of all shapes and sizes. In the coming years, as the region’s consumers become more affluent and its cities expand, following are the top retail trends in Southeast Asia:

Personalization

Consumers today expect quick and personalized customer service. They expect retailers to deliver a wider range of products, faster, through meaningful and targeted mediums. Omni channel retail technology allows retailers to know exactly where their inventory is, to whom they can make it available and when it will get there, regardless of which channel is calling for it. This helps retailers to offer the best level of service to their customers.

Integrated back-and front-end systems

Retailers in Southeast Asia will continue to focus on ensuring their back-end supply chain operations are fully optimized and streamlined and are aligned and synchronized with their store/online operations and associated front-end systems. This will help improve product availability and order accuracy, reduce fulfilment costs, and improve service levels.

Fast and flexible fulfilment

Few retailers in Southeast Asia are currently offering next day delivery to customers, two-hour click-and-collect, or ship-from-store services. For this to be possible, retailers need to have a 360 view of their channels and maintain accurate demand planning. Omni-channel retailers with this level of insight into their inventory and customers will seamlessly control product, people and processes to dispatch and fulfil orders quickly and profitably.

Social shopping

The increased use of instant messaging platforms and m-commerce in Southeast Asian countries will see more shoppers embracing social shopping. The next development will involve retailers using social channels to take customer orders. The retailers who succeed in this difficult market will probably be those who see social media as a viable retail platform.

Hyper targeting

Big data analytics in retail has advanced immensely, making it possible to track customer transactions, online conversations and shopping habits in real-time. Through this, brands can understand better how to service their customers and engage them sustainably.

The Last Mile In Customer Engagement

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As the retail market becomes bigger for the global consumer, a premium is placed on creating extraordinary brand experiences. That is what keeps the customer relationships intact in an increasingly competitive arena. Following are a few examples of how brands have managed to carve out a superior brand image and relationship quotient with the customers.

ETP blog retail-customer-engagement

Anticipatory service at the Apple store begins for customers even before they arrive in the flesh. With the Apple store app, a customer can schedule an appointment with the store staff – who will be able to prepare for their arrival at the Apple store and be available to personally guide them. The results are benefits for customer and company alike. For the company, the benefit is level scheduling of demand, a Lean process principle. For customers, the app eliminates wait times and promises undivided attention, something hard to find elsewhere in retail. Then it gets even more personal.

While IKEA’s print offering is its most enduring piece of content marketing, it only scratches the surface of the brand’s exemplary content marketing efforts, which are many and varied and all revolve around one common mission: to improve people’s everyday lives. “We really look at how people live their lives at home,” says Christine Scoma Whitehawk, Communications Manager for IKEA U.S. “So, we really start with the customer, and try to see what’s important to them… And then how can IKEA help them so that we are truly partners in making their life better at home every day.”

Starbucks is masterful at wrapping its product in a deeply-textured in-store experience. The choice of furniture and fixtures, the names of its drinks, the messages on the cups, the graphics, it’s all been studiously crafted. It creates a unique ecosystem of customer interactions, attention to smallest details with quality products, all weaved together. It ensures value fulfilment across multiple channels. “The mobile-order-and-pay, a totally unique technology, is the single most important innovation that Starbucks will introduce this year.” says Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Top 5 Questions – Before Investing In Merchandise Planning Technology

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The average consumer has changed. Retail has changed to keep up with consumer expectations. And, new technologies are continually evolving to change buying behaviours all over again. The only element that remains constant in the cycle of change is executing a customer-centric, interactive and personable brand experience. Effective merchandise planning helps you deliver just that!

Can it provide an omni-channel presence?

A customer expects seamless and consistent brand experience in-store, online, through mobile apps and social media. To remain accessible to the customer on multiple channels requires omni-channel planning and forecasting. Products, promotions and pricing has to be consistent across all retail channels – reinforcing customer trust, purchase frequency and loyalty.

Can it crunch Big Data?

Consolidated enterprise data in the form of Big Data is run through a common analytic engine to gain actionable customer insights and understand purchasing behaviour. Merchandise analytics can be used to ascertain trends and future market potential in different seasons, occasions and allow intuitive management, reducing lead times.

Is it working with real-time information?

Retailers need to provide on-trend, timely and precisely-priced merchandise as and when the customer demands it. Accurate demand planning in a highly competitive marketplace is key to optimize product lifecycle and profitability. Real-time visibility and control of business operations helps make quick strategic procurement, promotions and placement of merchandise.

Is it scalable?

When business is changing and growth is happening around the world, around the clock, your software systems and processes need to be agile. Merchandise planning, in an expanding enterprise, needs to be as cohesive as it is comprehensive. Flexibility in the system architecture leads to optimized assortments and optimal merchandise cycles.

Does it provide stable automation?

The most elemental and important feature is the stability of the merchandise planning process. All functions mentioned above can only be productive when the system platforms are aligned and stably connected to enterprise operations. It can drive superiority in the supply chain and competitive advantage in customer demand.

Online In-Store – Shopper’s Paradise

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ETP blog online in-store

Smartphones are getting smarter and making their users more savvy shoppers. Today, customers research, review, compare, purchase products online and in-store. Research shows more than 80% shoppers use their smartphones in-store, while shopping. The customer’s mobile is the starting point of most shopping journeys. It begins with searching about the various categories of interest. The search leads to the customer browsing deeper into the product information, while in the physical store, and ready to make the purchase.

Most shoppers use their phones to ascertain pre-shopping information like searching the store location and timings, comparing prices and understanding the store or brand specific promotions and ensuring the product availability at the store. Customers who use mobiles more often buy more. This is seen across product categories like health and beauty, electronics, home care and appliances. Browsing through substantial product information and reviews surreptitiously influences customers positively and removes any doubts regarding a purchase. Sometimes, customers also buy experience enhancing accompaniments for the selected products after reading about them online.

Mobile technology in retail is impacting a broad spectrum of business functions such as campaign and promotion management, customer service and acquisition, retention and loyalty management, space planning and optimization, operational processes, demand and supply forecasting, inventory management, security management, etc. Retailers are focusing strongly on mobile connect and analytics to gain actionable customer insights out of the enterprise data. For this, mobile technology like mPOS and beacons are being introduced into the retail store to deliver superior shopping experiences.

Also Read: How Can Retail Leverage The Benefits Of Blockchain

Top CEOs Redefining The Rules For New Age Retail

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Nike CEO Mark Parker talks about being the Goliath in a David market. “The last thing we want is to be a big dumb company that feels we can put a swoosh on something and people will buy that. Our management approach hasn’t come from studying and reading business books. It’s more intuitive, from the culture of sports. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve. How do you adapt to your environment and really focus on your potential? To really go after that, you have to embrace the reality that it is not going to slow down. And you have to look at that as half full, not half empty. Companies and people look at the pace of change as a challenge, an obstacle, a hurdle, we like to look at it as opportunity: Get on the offense.”

Speaking on the changing landscape of retail, Macy’s Inc. CEO Terry Lundgren isn’t losing sleep over how he’s running a retail empire in an age of booming internet-based commerce. He says “A bifurcated view of the retail environment – one in which brick-and-mortar retailers fight against a rising tide of internet retailers – doesn’t paint an accurate picture of how the average retailer shops. Rather, at least for Macy’s, the two are complementary tools used by consumers. The customer starts with a device, then they want to touch the product or sit in the sofa. Afterwards, they might walk out of the store and buy it online.”

Omni-channel retailing has become the norm in the industry and customers expect access to retail brands through multiple channels as per their convenience. The physical and digital platforms are blending to create an ecosystem that delivers instant value, information, products, services, payment options, rewards, cash-back, discounts, recommendations and updates to the customer anytime, anywhere. Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon, elaborates further, “I want us to stop talking about digital and physical retail as if they’re two separate things. The customer doesn’t think of it that way, and we can’t either. One customer can shop with us in so many different ways – in stores, on their phones, at homes or a pick-up point. I get excited about what our technology team is now capable of. As we add new capabilities and join these unique assets together effectively, we’re going to have something special.”

Top New Technology Innovations

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“I believe that every life is valuable. That we can make things better. That innovation is the key to a bright future. That we are just getting started.” – Bill Gates

It is said that every generation owes itself one glorious revolution. It seems technology is impervious to this timeline distinction – from the steam engine to the printing press, from the stapler to the smartphone, it is destined to revolutionize our day-to-day lives, generation after generation. It is making clean energy at 1/100th the cost, eradicating diseases, saving and even creating new lives a tangible possibility.

The top new technology innovations of the 21st century (so far!):

DNA technology is helping produce miraculous fixes and even modify mutations that cause life-threating diseases. It is also increasingly used in criminal investigations, nanotechnology and gene-splicing.

ETP blog dnatesting-com
(Image courtesy www.dnatesting.com)

Solar technology is often imagined as solar panels installed atop the roofs of industrial and residential buildings. But, research teams are focussing on applying solar energy in various forms like solar roadways and solar power in space.

extremetech-com
(Image courtesy www.extremetech.com)

Connectivity is perhaps the most experienced form of new technology today. It is only going to be better, faster with hyper connectivity weaved into and across daily appliances at home and offices, transport modes and entertainment.

(Image courtesy www.discovery.com)
(Image courtesy www.discovery.com)

Online classrooms are providing the most important educational foundation that everyone needs, no matter their location, social stature, physical and mental limitations.

(Image courtesy www.wired.com)
(Image courtesy www.wired.com)

3D printed bridges, self-driving automobiles, virtual reality, bionic prosthetics, artificial intelligence and robotics – the future of technology is as comprehensive as it is engaging and incessant.

Shake The Status Quo – Boost Retail Conversions

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If retail was to be summarized in numbers, the key statistic would be the sale conversion rate. While determining the financial health of the retail business, it is vital to ascertain the conversion rate out of the total incoming traffic in the store. A steady incline in conversions is usually linked with increased in-store traffic in the future. The challenge lies in mastering the sophisticated combination of attracting more foot traffic and delivering personalized attention to individual customers.

Store display – How many times have you entered a store just because it looked intriguing and just too appealing? It happens. And it can happen for your store, if you put your best out in a spectacular display. Creative brand and product imagery can help a small kiosk win over a sprawling showroom. Excite passing customers with interesting display and incentivizing signage. Keep them changing as per seasons, occasions and promotions, to counter visual fatigue. In an overcrowded marketplace, if you could manage to get the prospects into your store – half the battle is won!

Sales training – This might sound very basic and an existent part of retail business, in varying degrees. But in the customer-centric retail arena, just warm greetings and polite pointing don’t make the cut. Your in-store sales staff and customer support agents need to be groomed, trained and empowered with the right technology to consult customers with confidence. When a customer is treated with a truly personable experience, it becomes the key distinguishing factor for her to return to the store instead of using other channels to make the purchase, next time.

Customer feedback – One of the best trends followed in the present social media age is being vocal about your likes and dislikes. Customers vociferously review, critique and comment on various subjects, including their retail experiences. Online/offline surveys work to an extent but it can’t be your only medium of accumulating customer feedback. A substantial, savvy and trustworthy multi-channel presence wins favor with all kinds of customers. It induces and initiates conversations that engage customers and prospects alike. Through this, retailers derive actionable feedback which helps fulfilling customer expectations and nurtures brand loyalty.