The Internet has had a profound impact on commerce. Over the years more and more Internet users have looked to the online marketplace for everyday purchases – both staples and luxuries. According to Forrester Research, online retail sales are expected to grow to $250 billion by 2014, up from $144 billion in 2009 (Schonfeld, 2010). This shift from bricks to clicks has presented some interesting challenges and opportunities for retail businesses. On the one hand, with a relatively small investment a retail operation could launch a website to offer their merchandise to an international marketplace, a concept that would require significant investments of capital and resources for traditional offline retailers.
On the other hand, since the barrier to entry is lower competition could be much higher and consumers are likely to have higher expectations of service and price savings – therefore, the "customer experience" can serve to differentiate and lead to greater brand loyalty. In Jim Sterne’s book Customer Service on the Internet: Building Relationships, Increasing Loyalty, and Staying Competitive, Stern opens with a sobering quote for anyone in the retail space: “If you have an unhappy customer on the Internet, he doesn’t tell his six friends, he tells his 6,000 friends.” Retailers are faced with a new reality—sharing poor experience stories has moved far beyond the dining room table. In fact, according to Sterne, “The Web opens up a new kind of conversation with customers, an automated conversation”. Today, we blog, tweet and in some cases record and share our experiences for all to relive and experience online. As a result, retailers large and small must be more self reflective to identify and solve problems -- put simply, ensure that consumers are treated well; because when they are not, they will tell you and others too!
At one time in the not so far distant past, when we needed help we called an 800 number and after listening to some classical music we then explained our story to someone on the other end of the phone in the hopes that our problem would be solved. The Internet introduced an interesting twist to this equation – it has created an opportunity to leverage information in a far more powerful and effective way to better serve customers – put another way, to anticipate their problem and solve it. As such, companies have expanded their information platforms to provide more helpful ways to serve customers and solve their problems. These new channels include, robust help sites which offer dynamic FAQs, online chat buttons placed on complicated Web pages, e-mail messaging capabilities embedded within smart phone and iPad Apps, and automated phone response units which use natural language commands.
On the other hand, since the barrier to entry is lower competition could be much higher and consumers are likely to have higher expectations of service and price savings – therefore, the "customer experience" can serve to differentiate and lead to greater brand loyalty. In Jim Sterne’s book Customer Service on the Internet: Building Relationships, Increasing Loyalty, and Staying Competitive, Stern opens with a sobering quote for anyone in the retail space: “If you have an unhappy customer on the Internet, he doesn’t tell his six friends, he tells his 6,000 friends.” Retailers are faced with a new reality—sharing poor experience stories has moved far beyond the dining room table. In fact, according to Sterne, “The Web opens up a new kind of conversation with customers, an automated conversation”. Today, we blog, tweet and in some cases record and share our experiences for all to relive and experience online. As a result, retailers large and small must be more self reflective to identify and solve problems -- put simply, ensure that consumers are treated well; because when they are not, they will tell you and others too!
At one time in the not so far distant past, when we needed help we called an 800 number and after listening to some classical music we then explained our story to someone on the other end of the phone in the hopes that our problem would be solved. The Internet introduced an interesting twist to this equation – it has created an opportunity to leverage information in a far more powerful and effective way to better serve customers – put another way, to anticipate their problem and solve it. As such, companies have expanded their information platforms to provide more helpful ways to serve customers and solve their problems. These new channels include, robust help sites which offer dynamic FAQs, online chat buttons placed on complicated Web pages, e-mail messaging capabilities embedded within smart phone and iPad Apps, and automated phone response units which use natural language commands.
While there's little question that these tools are very cool, they alone will not suffice. Companies must develop a cohesive customer service and information management strategy that calibrates and unifies these channels so that the customer experience across each channel remains seamless, the information each may share remains consistent, and that they each are positioned properly so as to bring forward those exceptions that would likely result in a poor customer experience -- proactively!
None of us like to walk away feeling that our issue went unheard or unresolved. When companies get this right not only do they solve our problems fast, but they also creating raving fans!
None of us like to walk away feeling that our issue went unheard or unresolved. When companies get this right not only do they solve our problems fast, but they also creating raving fans!
Reference:
Schoenfeld, R. (2010). Forrester Forecast: Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014 http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/08/forrester-forecast-online-retail-sales-will-grow-to-250-billion-by-2014/#
No comments:
Post a Comment