The Retailer Winter edition_2020

retail disruption and innovation

How store staff and technology can help beat the customer experience squeeze in 2020

CHRIS FIELD DIRECTOR Fieldworks Marketing

RETAILERS ARE ADVISED TO HARNESS TECHNOLOGY IF THEY’RE TO PROTECT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WHILE RESTRUCTURING THEIR BUSINESSES We’re currently witnessing a significant recalibration of the retail sector footprint and associated headcount, as predicted in the BRC’s landmark Retail 2020 report, but how are retailers ensuring this process isn’t ruining customer experience in physical stores? At first, it’s an equation that simply doesn’t seem to add up. Retailers are being forced by a series of economic pressures to reduce the size of in-store shop-floor teams, while at the same time retailers, analysts and customers alike are stressing the need for enhanced in-store experiences with increased staff face time as a key element. With retail the biggest UK employer and retail wages the biggest sector overhead, its impossible to stress how central this challenge is to the industry in 2020. Get it wrong, and retailers may well find themselves in the same position as any one of those retailers who went bust during 2019. Fewer but better jobs The key to recalibrating store headcount, while actually improving customer experience, was discussed in the BRC’s Retail 2020 report, which stressed the need for ‘fewer but better jobs’ with the stress on employee training, career progression, improved leadership and diversity. However, four years after the BRC’s report was published, with wage costs increasing and the cost of technology decreasing, the role of tech is coming to the fore. Used judiciously technology can liberate employees from morale-sapping repetitive tasks so they can spend more time selling to customers. Technology can also help to elevate those customer interactions by ensuring staff have the information and capabilities they need at their fingertips to deliver what the customers wants with the minimum level of fuss and friction. One of the keystones of all this change is the ability to ‘digitise’ store staff, equipping them with tools that leverage a real-time, single view of customer, stock and order so they ensure that shoppers can enjoy seamless customer experiences. “Technology is not only being used to support store staff, it is also being used to ensure they’re deployed effectively”

“In 2020 only increased technology can ensure human interaction is profitable at scale.”

Personalised customer experiences French beauty retailer Sephora has harnessed this approach, ensuring that store staff are able to put personalisation at the front of every customer interaction. Store staff have full sight of customers’ browsing history, the location of SKUs capture product details across its whole estate and they are also able to capture products used during beauty consultations and send them to a customer for future reference, along with videos and before-and-after pictures. Bricks-and-mortar retailers are also waking up to how customer- facing smartphone apps can help fast-track the customer journey in store. US high-end retailer Nordstrom, for example, enables customers to use their smartphones to select items they wish to try on and even reserve a dressing room in-store. Location services then notify staff when the customer is on their way to the store so their fitting room can be prepared before they even set foot in the door. This digital solution ensures customers still have all-important face time with sales personnel, but this interaction is distilled to encapsulate real value-added activity, boosting productivity and liberating staff to concentrate on securing the sale. Conversational commerce Forward-looking retailers are also investing in conversational commerce solutions in a bid to maximise the ROI of their workforce. Burberry for example, recently collaborated with Apple to launch its new R Message app. It employs many of the same features as Whatsapp, allowing customers to see when sales assistants are online and have direct conversations with them about products, book in-store appointments, and purchase pieces they like directly through the app using Apple Pay. The system has already been launched in Burberry’s Manchester store. This approach gives in-store staff a new lease of life, enabling them to deliver seamless, enriched interactions as they switch from online to in store. Meanwhile online customers of mobile phone giant Three, can now request a livestreamed product demo and Q&A with an in-store employee. If they would still like to book a demo in-store the member of staff can do this during their livestream session. Retailers and brands such as L’Oreal, Decathlon and FeelUnique are also using artificial intelligence to identify high-value, high-intent online customers offering them the chance to chat with an independent, third-party product specialist to ensure they find, buy and love the product that’s best for them.

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