We all like to be kept informed. Indeed, in an era of ubiquitous smartphone usage, being kept in the dark feels like something from, well, the Dark Ages. Yet, in retail, it remains more common than it ought to be.
Technology has come on leaps and bounds. Today, there are apps to communicate, track and promote orders, both existing and new, to customers. No surprise then that a study has found 90% of customers consider quick responses and communication quality as important criteria in customer experience.
Commercial imperative for CX
So important is this to shoppers that some 87% will spend less with, or completely abandon, brands that don’t provide great customer service. There’s a clear commercial imperative to get communication in the customer experience (CX) right.
New technologies continue to create new possibilities. They also raise consumer expectations. People of all ages expect to get what they want, when they want it and don’t expect to compromise the quality of their experience just because they’re shopping online.
It’s one of the reasons we recently announced a partnership with HelloDone - a natural language virtual assistant that enables automated and personalized dialogue and delivery tracking notifications between the online retailer and customer via WhatsApp, Messenger and Webchat in post-purchase. You can read more on that here.
Communication a competitive difference
Put simply, consumers do not feel that shopping online should lead to a compromise of the customer experience. They expect help when they want it. And they presume that this help will come through the channels – phone, social media, live chat – that work for them.
Communicating with customers throughout the shopping, delivery and returns experience is also a fantastic way to build brand loyalty with shoppers and to keep them coming back for more.
It’s why we highlighted how retailers differentiate on CX is going to be a defining trend in retail this year in our recent report, Delivering for shoppers in 2024. In this day and age, exceptional communication should not just be the baseline, but it can be a competitive difference for brands that do it well.
Five tips to curb the cost of poor CX
To help, nShift has the following five tips to help curb the cost of poor communications when it comes to CX:
- Delivery choices at checkout - it’s important that retailers ensure they offer delivery options that suit their customers. Regardless of whether their priority is speed, cost, or convenience
- Enhance customer communication - tools and technologies such as automated notifications and real-time tracking provide transparency and improve communication. They can also act as a highly effective marketing channel
- Make returns simple - the right returns policy, implemented well, can minimize losses, and turn up to 30% of refunds to exchanges
- Prioritize carriers that match your objectives – ensure a wide range of carriers to meet customers’ every demand: express and low-cost, low-emissions, PUDO (pick up and drop off) lockers, click and collect
- Get to know your customers – use customer insights to join the dots in the customer journey and deliver the smoothest possible experience. And with insight into a customer’s shopping history and delivery preferences, a retailer can make recommendations for future purchases
Turbocharge the customer experience
At nShift, our portfolio of solutions enables ecommerce and multi-channel retailers to create a seamless delivery experience from checkout to returns. Getting deliveries right can turbo-charge the customer experience, increase conversions and turn one-off transactions into life-long customer relationships.
Download Delivering for shoppers in 2024 to find out more.
