Ocado says its customers’ questions have been answered faster since it introduced new technology that integrates social media and live chat management.
The online grocer, ranked Top50 in IRUK Top500 research, is a launch customer for the new Orlo digital customer experience platform, which enables Ocado to move easily between communication channels when talking to customers, while retaining linked records of those conversations.
“Customer care has been at the heart of Ocado since our launch,” said Pattle. “Our objective is to provide customes with the best possible shopping experience and for this,this, customer service is essential. Online customer care became part of our business in 2014 with the launch of our social media channels, with web chat launching the following year.
“Our customers expect the best possible service from us throughout their customer journey. As we only operate online, this places particular emphasis on the online customer experience, so we go above and beyond to make it as user friendly as possible.”
Pattle said Ocado needed a customer experience management solution that could be changed and updated easily in response to customer needs.
“Orlo’s integrated platform creates efficiencies between our social media and webchat teams, whilst also allowing our customer service teams more flexibility,” he said.
“The efficiencies created within our customer service team by using Orlo mean our customers see quicker response times, and as a key element of customer satisfaction this is a real benefit for Ocado shoppers.”
Looking to the future, he said, “Our aim is to continue to provide a high-level customer experience across all our service channels. With a growing demand for online customer service, as more customers turn to online services for support, we’ll continue to explore how we can update and improve our Orlo platform.”
Orlo’s own research suggests that customers feel more positive about a retail experience when they are confident about a brand (67%), have simple stress-free interactions with them (57%) and feel safe and secure (52%). It also cites Forrester research that suggests “emotion” is a key pillar of customer service and sales and that when customer feel valued and appreciated, 87% become advocates and 74% stay with the brand.
“If we can be there instantly, effectively and meaningfully when our customers need us most, we can create amazing online experiences and inspire positive emotions, influencing behaviour at scale,” said Ben Nimmo, co-founder and CTO of Orlo. “Delivering powerful customer experiences and marketing that cuts through the noise allows us to turn our audience into advocates, social connections and web visitors into customers, and encourages those that matter to see online as the best way to talk to us.”
Orlo, previously known as SocialSignIn, works with retail customers including Iceland, Laura Ashley, Jojo Maman Bébé and Hamleys Toys. The Orlo suite includes social customer care, social media marketing, analytics, media monitoring and live chat.
Image courtesy of Ocado