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The New World of Digital RetailCustomer service has become the new marketing,and ‘clicks and mortar’ are ideally poised to take advantage of this by providing a more personalisedand engaging digital experience.

www.imimobile.com

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The New World of Digital Retail

The worlds of in-store and online retail are merging. We are seeing a shift in the criteria customers value most - from the quality of products, to the speed and satisfaction driven through customer service and overall digital customer experience. Customers aren’t just buying a product anymore, they are investing in a service experience that complements their lifestyle. Seventy per cent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated according to McKinsey. The widespread adoption of smartphones, social messaging and the sheer amount of shopping options has changed the nature of customer services. Modern consumers are brand-agnostic, extremely informed and in need of instant gratification. They prefer messaging over voice as an interaction channel, and have high expectations that continue to increase.

Multiple purchase and digital communication channels are now available to consumers, who want the benefits of one channel to be mirrored across all others. A siloed approach to online and offline activities is no longer viable, and a quality omni-channel engagement strategy will merge both these elements while providing the seamless, real-time, personalised experience customers now demand.

Changing world of digital retail

Of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.

Source: McKinsey

70%

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Of online customers will purchase again from a retailer that provides a good return

or exchange experience.

Customer service has become the new marketing, and ‘clicks and mortar’ are ideally poised to take advantage of this by providing a more personalised and engaging digital experience. Although we are seeing giants like Amazon and Asos excel in the industry, there are many advantages a modern ‘clicks and mortar’ has over such ‘etailers’. Exploiting location, delivering face-to-face customer service, and a full sensory experience are just three advantages of possessing a physical store, but the conundrum for retailers is how they merge the benefits of their store and online presence to deliver a quality experience. Click & Collect and Returns Management are two excellent opportunities for retailers to move to becoming ‘digital fulfilment centres’, but have oddly remained overlooked by many retailers, if not customers.

Retailers are underestimating their power!

95%

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Maintaining proactive communications throughout the delivery process brings additional opportunities

for upselling.

Similarly, returns can range from 5% - 50% depending on the product category, adding unwanted costs and unexpected inventory to handle. Returns Management is clearly a big issue for retailers, but one which has historically been viewed as a logistical problem and necessary cost, rather than a service presenting a glorious opportunity to differentiate your business.

Not only can it be a key selling point for your brand, it can also add considerable value to your bottom line - 95% of online customers will purchase again from a retailer that provides a good return or exchange experience.

Returns Management

With customers considering a hassle-free experience to be even more important than the brand they are buying, and nearly 76% of shoppers in the UK expected to utilise Click & Collect by 2017, it is crucial retailers get the Click & Collect customer journey right, through effective use of the mobile channel.It offers consumers convenience, a saving on delivery costs and ensures availability. However, many retailers are ill equipped to deal with the customer revolution underway, with a lack of proactive communication leading to negative in-store experiences with long wait times and staff that are often unable to locate their item.

A quarter of Click & Collect products are actually never collected by customers, creating storage and sales problems for retailers who either lose the sale, have to refund, or can’t resell the item. Thankfully, with the correct automated digital communication experience, retailers can increase their collections, while generating significant additional revenues through personalised up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.

Click & Collect

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Creating a digital loyalty opportunityThe way retailers can improve their Click & Collect and Returns Management user journeys is through personalisation and relevant communications. Forty-eight per cent of consumers say they purchase more from retailers that leverage interests and buying behaviours to personalise the customer experience across all touch points.

Retailers can do this by opening a dialogue with the customer using their favourite interaction channel, whilst digitising and automating workflows and business processes. Being proactive is also key, and retail software and solutions provider IMImobile is able to use data-driven intelligent communications to achieve this.

IMImobile’s cloud-based digital fulfilment retail solutions help both Click & Collect, and Returns Management by proactively using interactive text-based messaging to trigger a two-way interaction with a customer at the perfect point in the customer journey. For example, notifying the customer when their item is in stock, and letting them know where and when to collect it. Subsequently, business rules can be set to proactively communicate with the customer as the collection time draws closer, or if the customer misses the pick-up deadline, with the ability to provide proactive alternative collection instructions.

Similarly, retailers can deploy these communications during the returns process to set expectations and reduce customer anxiety by keeping them informed at every stage of the journey. The retailer can, for example, initially communicate the customer’s options for returning products, and then explain exactly when the customer will be refunded. A convenient and hassle-free experience is of utmost importance to the customer, and should be for the retailer.

By providing orchestration capability across customer lifecycle processes and the ability to manage outbound and inbound interactions such as two-way mobile messaging, delivery and payments, into existing back-end and logistics systems, processes are automated and streamlined across channels, increasing efficiency at every step. In both instances it’s also possible to follow up a collection with a survey to measure consumer insight and satisfaction, and to exploit an engaged customer with personalised cross/up-sell offers. In both these instances, IMImobile’s omni-channel retail solutions reduce customer service costs, and can be used to drive footfalls, where the retailer can exploit the benefits of the in-store experience to drive revenues. Research by IMRG suggests 40% of consumers will make another purchase when they come into a store for a Click & Collect order.

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No rip and replaceCloud technology makes it possible to introduce sophisticated digital retail processes without having to ‘rip and replace’ incumbent systems. For example, IMImobile has digital customer interaction technology that can simply introduce new digital channels into the retail customer journey.

These solutions integrate with a retailer’s existing systems, and can enable them to experience immediate improvements in customer experience and operational performance.

They can also be used to join up or repair broken customer journeys using mobile and digital channels, and automate proactive digital communication in areas such as Click & Collect and Returns Management, interacting with the customer through the most appropriate channel, at the right time. The ultimate goal is to improve customer experience and become stickier from a retail perspective.

Of consumers say they purchase more from retailers that leverage interests and buying

behaviours to personalise the customer experience.

46%

Controlling the customer journeyAlong similar lines, digital communications can help you take back control of the logistics and delivery process, and own the customer journey from purchase through to post delivery. Many retailers have lost out on the opportunity to connect with customers after purchase, because a third-party courier is the one doing the fulfilment and sending out the customer feedback request. Instead, retailers can use a digital customer engagement solution to follow up on a purchase, check that the customer is happy, and offer them additional products and services. Retail has always been a fiercely competitive industry where innovators, and those who

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By helping customers schedule pick ups you can help them avoid peak times.

understand the customer best, are the ones who win. Whilst the web has given fast-moving start-ups and web pure-plays some advantages over traditional retailers, it has also levelled the playing field.

Today, retail cloud digital customer engagement solutions like those provided by IMImobile enable businesses of all sizes to introduce transformational digital processes to their existing IT infrastructures. With no need for a ‘rip and replace’ approach, retailers can see immediate results without the big capital outlays of a traditional IT transformation programme.

Of consumers will make another purchase when they come into a store for a

click & collect order.

40%

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The resultIt is possible to interact on a personalised and proactive level with customers who now operate in a smartphone world, through the spectrum of digital communication channels of their choice and orchestrate the whole customer journey. You can build on the CRM, Click & Collect, and logistics systems that you already have in place by adding an orchestrated digital communications layer to solve the most important business issue facing businesses - how to improve the customer experience for today’s consumer.

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About IMImobileIMImobile is a cloud communications software and solutions provider that helps companies to use mobile and digital technologies to communicate and engage with their customers. Experts in multi-channel digital customer interactions and established for 15 years, IMImobile currently delivers over 1 billion mobile interactions per month utilising its cloud based technology. IMImobile works with companies including O2, EE, AA, Parcel Force, Centrica and leading banks to deliver multi-channel award winning customer experiences.

www.imimobile.com

the new world of digital retail - computer …...the new world of digital retail customer service...

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