It’s no secret that during tough economic times, customers seek excellent value for their money. Excellent value, though, isn’t limited simply to low prices. While low prices certainly feature on most consumers’ wish lists, there are many other pieces to the puzzle, including brand equity, convenience, quality, payment security, warranty details and perhaps most importantly, the customer experience. If retailers can find the perfect balance of all these factors – especially during times when customers desire them the most – they’ll find themselves armed with a key competitive differentiator and in a prime position for growth.
 
To do this, companies must gather, read and respond to customers’ expectations so that they can effectively improve their in-store experiences. For many brands, this is easier said than done. After all, not only are each customer’s expectations different, they are also changing all the time. To further complicate matters, in an economic downturn customers become more unpredictable, so traditional approaches to measuring customer satisfaction are no longer adequate.
 
Retailers have been hampered in their search for store level feedback, as common methods such as mystery shopping and exit interviews are budget busting for more than a just a snapshot. One mystery shop per month or 100 exit surveys per year will not provide companies a full picture.
 
A new experience
 
Fortunately, new technology allows retailers to continuously gain insight from many customers spanning multiple locations.
 
Using the common medium of the till receipt, brands can solicit feedback directly from thousands of their customers every day, getting feedback online, over the phone, or via text messaging. With these methods, participation levels are generally high because customers appreciate being asked for their views and given multiple response mechanisms. They also appreciate the many prizes that can be won, or discounts offered for responding. Perhaps most importantly, when customers are provided the ability to opt into a survey at a time of their choosing and using the methodology they’re most comfortable with, they are typically more willing to invest time into improving their favorite brands.
 
When retailers have access to data of this quality, depth and breadth, they can leverage it in a variety of ways. At the corporate level, they can use it to make critical decisions related to customer strategy, marketing, staffing levels, store layout and staff training. At store level, individual location managers can leverage metrics – both good and bad - about their stores, empowering them to more quickly and effectively make changes.
 
One way retailers can improve customer service is to reward individual staff members based on customer feedback, incentivizing employees to make sure customers are satisfied and likely to return. Adopting techniques like this moves the loyalty agenda on significantly, from customer segmentation based on socio-demographics to experiential drivers, enabling retailers to focus on delivering value to their customers. And delivering value has measurable benefits. Retailers that use voice of the customer techniques report a rise in customer satisfaction, higher return visits, higher like-for-like sales and higher spend per customer.
 
Customer expectations are continually changing and retailers can use customer insight to better understand how to meet their needs. Now more than ever, retailers must do everything possible to stay in tune with customers to protect and grow their market share. Today, it can mean life or death for a brand. Only those that take action will live to see brighter economic times and emerge stronger than ever before.
 
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Background information on the author:
 
Dr. Gary Edwards is the Executive VP of Client Services at Empathica. He is responsible for oversight of client management, marketing science and retail insights. Gary is involved in solving business challenges with research and technology solutions. He has served a key leadership role during program development, implementation and follow-up with clients in the retail industry for the past six years at Empathica. Gary is a regular contributor to RetailWire, and he has also contributed articles to trade publications like Chain Store Age.
 
About Empathica, Inc:
 
Empathica provides Customer Experience Management programs to more than 200 of the world’s leading brands, ranging from multi-unit retailers, to banks and restaurants. Its rich analysis of survey data using state-of-the-art surveying and dashboard reporting software allows for performance-improvement solutions, evidence-based marketing insights, and customer experience management consulting. Annually, Empathica’s 30 million customer surveys in 17 languages reach more than 70,000 locations. A privately-held organization, Empathica is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and also has offices in Birmingham, England and Alpharetta, GA, in the United States. For more information about deriving actionable insights that enhance a brand’s operational excellence, visit Empathica at www.empathica.com.