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How to lead in customer experience – the key components of customer obsessed retailers

The need for increased intelligence around delivery and customer insight is driven by consumers desire for a faster and more convenient experience. However, the rate at which demand is growing can mean staying relevant in today’s digitally connected world is a significant challenge.

To help online retailers better understand best practice when it comes to delighting customers, Loqate, a GBG solution, have partnered with Internet Retailing to produce ‘Exploring the value of enhanced location data’ whitepaper – featuring insight from leading retailers Hush, Schuh and Bloom & Wild. 

In this blog we look at how Hush, a leading womenswear brand, are working hard to delight their customers, improve customer insight and drive business efficiency.

1. Be customer obsessed

When you look at the definition of ‘obsession’, the dictionary explains that it is ‘an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind’. And this is exactly what Liam Hewitt, Senior eCommerce Manager at Hush, says he and his team are in order to deliver the best possible customer experience. “be it in store or online, we are constantly looking at optimisation to improve the journey”.
Gathering that firsthand feedback from your customers is key. Running surveys in store post checkout or learning how visitors use and interact with your ecommerce site, through tech such as HotJar, is what will help you learn, optimise and win the loyalty of today’s digitally savvy consumers. It’s also vital you don’t assume a one fit for all, remember your customers are individual. Learning what take best practice looks like is always a good idea, but you need to find out what works for your customer – that’s why running these tests across your retail inventory will be key to your success.

2. Gather the best quality data

The quality of your customer data is crucial to running an efficient and customer obsessed retail business.  Hewitt comments “Data quality is vital to so many processes. The quality of data that Loqate provides us ensures we can deliver products to our customers first time, every time. Not only does it improve customer satisfaction, but data quality also allows us to run an efficient and cost-effective logistics operation.”

This statement is backed up by recent research, Fixing Failed Deliveries, which investigated the quality of retail data. The study revealed that 1 in 20 online orders shockingly never reach their destination. Maintaining data quality from the start and throughout the customer lifecycle is key to delighting your customers.

3. Use location to your advantage

Location has always been a crucial element of the ecommerce mix since, any successful online transaction relies on getting the product to the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
The use of location data, with tools such as address look-up and verification, can help remove form friction when checking out, increase accuracy around delivery, ensure a good customer experience and lead to a loyal customer base.

But what about looking beyond the point of delivery – how do modern retailers go the extra mile to increase customer satisfaction. For example, delivering to those hard to reach places (think white goods delivery to 7th floor apartment in a congestion zone), or better understanding customer patterns for targeted marketing.

Commenting in Exploring the Value of Enhanced Location Data, Hewitt explains “Enhanced location data helps businesses communicate more relevant and tailored messages, as well as give more insight into consumer trends and behaviour and can help with personalisation, such as targeting by geographic area. Without location data we would struggle to understand our consumers, their behaviour and how to target them effectively.”

Address verification tools can only take you so far, however enhancing them with location data sets such as Property Intelligence, Address Base and Not Yet Built can provide valuable insight and provide added value to customer obsessed retailers.

We live in an increasingly competitive world of retail, and today’s consumers are demanding a quick, easy and convenient experience. Following these three pointers from eCommerce success story Hush can help likeminded retailers stay ahead of the game, increase revenue through a more efficient operation and continue to delight their customers.

To read more of the interview with Hush, or the other retailers featured you can download your free copy of ‘Exploring the value of enhanced location data’ here.

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