When it comes to the most important aspect of the retail experience, many retailers may be surprised to learn that customer experience often ranks at the top of the list.That’s right: a great customer experience can rank higher than the inventory, pricing, location of the store, or user-friendliness of the online or offline retailer storefront.
In a recent study sponsored by Synchrony Financial called the Customer Experience and Impact Study, researchers discovered that customers would be loyal to those retailers who checked off the customer experience boxes, even if that meant paying a higher price. So what can you do in your business to create a better customer shopping experience? Here are some tips you can put into play.
Make the Checkout Experience Smooth
After a customer spends ample time in your retail store, walking through the various aisles, asking questions, and possibly trying on items depending on what you sell, your final chance to win them over is during their checkout experience. One way to ensure a positive ending to their visit is by incorporating a Self-Ordering Kiosk, for instance, potentially allowing customers to easily select and pay for their items with zero hassle. These kiosks can streamline the process, reducing the chances of long lines and making it easier for customers to complete their purchases quickly.
But what about businesses where they don’t have kiosks and other similar machines? In that case, they should strive to ensure that the items are easily scanned with the proper price being displayed. Also, customers should have a selection of payment options, and they need to be given a professional receipt with the store’s contact information on it. All of this can be achieved with an ePOS system such as Vend. All of the features built into this system have been specially chosen in order to make for an easy and smooth shopping experience.
Vend can also be used in your online storefront, providing all those same key features that customers demand, which you can learn more about over on their website www.vendhq.com/uk/.
Make Sure Staff are Available
It doesn’t matter if you have an online retail store or a brick-and-mortar store, it’s important to make your staff available to customers. When a customer has a question, it needs to be answered quickly and fully or else you risk losing that sale. In the brick-and-mortar store, you should always have staff available on the shop floor to help customers, whereas online you can offer a live-chat feature so they can get immediate answers.
As a side note, this means that all of your staff need to be well-trained and knowledgeable so they are able to answer questions fully and with confidence. If a member of staff can’t answer a customer’s question, the customer will lose faith in your brand and sense that you are inexperienced/unprofessional.
Streamline the Hidden, Back-end Operations
Unfortunately it seems as if when an online products and services retail operation is running smoothly, the customer only really sees one which is running how it’s supposed to run. Make sure never to give them a reason to complain, however. Make sure to use a solid online inventory management solution so that you’re always prepared for any eventuality and that you’re always ahead of any logistical issues that could go pop up. For instance, it might save you a lot of trouble using the reorder feature to avoid any service interruptions as a result of running out of inventory, some of which might be of the kind which takes quite a bit of time to take up delivery of. This is like the guardian angel working in the background, which nobody knows anything about, but is very essential nevertheless.
Offer a Customer Loyalty Program
Another way to enhance the customer experience is to make each and every customer feel special and valued. This can be done through a customer loyalty or VIP program. Rewards can be things such as discounts, exclusive promotions, product sneak-peaks, and even free products.
If you were to choose a ePOS system such as Vend, you’ll even be able to manage your customer loyalty program through it.
Bring Them Back for More
By placing the emphasis on customer experience, you will, in fact, be winning over customers and creating a loyal following. They will be much more likely to return and also tell their friends about their fantastic experience with you.
