Source: Linkedin
Napoleon Hill who was one of the greatest influencers of the 20th century has a famous quote which is still relevant till today “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way”. And this was exactly what I experienced a couple of days ago after attending IDC CIO Summit 2016 at Marina Bay Sands Convention Center. I decided to drop by at Sacoor Brothers outlet and check out their fall collection. The sales executive, Rikko welcomed me with a big smile and asked if I am a member to check my account status and benefits. She surprised me by offering a free shirt for my birthday which I accepted delightfully. The fact that she went the extra mile to offer a surprise gift to a returning customer means that Sacoor Brothers has put the customer experience at the heart of their business. In another occasion, I received an e-mail from their in-house tailor to check if the alterations met my expectations and my suit fits perfectly. This is all possible because the retailer is using a CRM system enabling them to track customer’s purchase history and preferences.
Retailers are challenged more than ever before to adopt omnichannel as part of their business process to reach and connect with customers at every touchpoint. Although, customers still like to shop in physical stores and approximately 90% of all retail sales are still made in brick and mortar, but times have changed and customer expect the experience to be similar to online: easy, convenient and personalized. Quality customer experience is also being seen as a key differentiator, as indicated by IDC recent research, 50% of respondents selected consistent experience across different channels as a number one factor to achieve superior customer experience. That means it’s time for retailers to ask themselves how they are going to put customer experience at the heart of their communications.
E-mail marketing is one of the main communication channels and if it’s done well it can boost retailers’ prominence, relationship, and reputation with their customers. However, the e-mail communication is a competitive landscape and retailers need to fight for customer’s attention against many other competing brands in the market. The key to ensuring email stands out from the crowd is to create great content. That means every email needs to be personally engaging, and relevant to every single customer who receives it. Marketing automation technology enables retailers to segment audiences based on their spending behaviors and preferences, as well as demographic and geographical information.
Today digitally connected customers are looking for a seamless and consistent shopping experience, whether engaging with or buying from retailers. Customer experience encompasses the processes that enable personalized and effective customer interaction and leverage technology with the intention of increasing customer engagement. The technologies and services of cloud, social, mobile, and analytics are key in supporting the customer experience initiative and are indicative of the market dynamics that retailers must track, understand, and respond to.
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