Digital transformation has radically disrupted the retail sector. Barriers to entry have dropped, competition has increased, and customer expectations continue to rise. The experience that retailers offer across digital channels is now crucial to winning and retaining customers.
This Christmas over £24 billion will be spent online on presents and gifts. And while some of these packages will be picked up instore through Click and Collect services, the vast majority will be delivered by the post and couriers. This last leg of the ecommerce customer experience has always been hard for retailers to control.
Christmas is a stressful time. It is stressful for consumers buying last minute presents or chasing up a missing delivery, but it is also stressful for the staff in stores and contact centers with the many customer enquiries that follow the season. The number of queries companies receive is enormous, and every single one matters to the consumer that sent it
We’re now well into the holiday shopping season, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us but plenty of shopping days to go before Christmas itself. The trading picture so far this year has been mixed, and for many retailers this time of year is make or break time.
New figures from the National Retail Federation point to sales increasing by 3.6% over the course of 2016 holiday shopping season in the US, hitting $655.8 billion. Ecommerce should grow between 7-10%, totaling as much as $117 billion. In the UK, retailers will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2015 festive season where heavy discounting hit margins in many parts of the sector.
It may seem like a long time in the future for consumers, but as every retailer knows Christmas is coming – fast. Now is the period for finalizing plans and ensuring that the vital holiday season goes as well as possible. Customer service and the experience you offer consumers is a critical part of this, so what should companies be doing NOW to ready themselves?
Retail is one of the most competitive sectors in the economy. Transformed by the internet, new entrants and ever more demanding consumers, retailers cannot afford to rest on their laurels.Customers are pushing retailers to innovate and deliver new services, improved experiences at lower prices. Loyalty is a thing of the past, with consumers are now able to choose from an enormous range...
Forrester recently reported that 69% of people still want to contact companies through email. However, UK brands are struggling to cope with the emails they receive, with performance overall worsening according to the latest Eptica Multichannel Customer Experience Study.Email volumes are increasing year-on-year, and in some sectors (such as retail), email makes up30% of...
Customer experience is important to every industry, but particularly vital for retail. Fierce competition, exacerbated by the rise of ecommerce, means it is increasingly important for retail companies to differentiate themselves. And with many stores often selling the same products, customer experience is a more appealing way of differentiating than competing on price...
Email has been a mainstay of customer service since its inception, providing a digital alternative to the telephone for consumers. Despite the growth of other digital channels, such as social media and chat, it continues to thrive – 69% of people still want to contact companies through email, according to Forrester. In some sectors (such as retail), ...