Due to so many technological and digital changes, retailers are wondering how to create an in-store and out-of-store brand experience that is relevant to consumers, improve the customer relationship between their company and audience, and differentiate their service from the competition. Positive customer experiences in physical stores, as well as digital experiences, are the center of brand loyalty, high levels of customer satisfaction, as well as successful retail operations, providing a reason for customers to keep coming back to the store, shop on the mobile app and follow you on social media.

But, while the demand for improving the customer experience is increasing, many retailers are struggling to develop assertive cx strategies that offer a competitive advantage and a real emotional connection with their brand. So the question we are all asking is, how can companies create successful customer experience strategies and manage a customer journey with a strategic approach to better understanding customer expectations in the retail industry? 

First of all, as the impact of technology grows in the industry, action plans must be made. Retailers must invest in analyzing customers and optimizing their technology to improve the experience. Journey mapping helps visualize how customers interact with a product or service, and how they feel along the way.

The Engaged Shopper

Nowadays, shoppers expect to have a digital customer experience in which they can buy in real time, have live chats and go through all the customer journey experience without having any problem or bad experience. If shoppers can readily purchase a product on instagram, via an influencer on Tik Tok or during a livestream, it will be increasingly difficult to force them to model the traditional customer experience either in store or online. As a result retailers have to design their shopping and user experience around these changing online customer needs and behaviors.

Successful retailers are investing in buying online pickup in store, buying online ship to home, buying online return in store and other fulfillment methods to drive efficiency in the shopping process. To keep customers engaged, companies have to craft a purchasing experience that is seamless, quick and comfortable for every shopper regardless of levels of engagement. Also, measuring customer emotional connection is a must in the experience management, it allows retailers to have customer feedback on their shopping process.

The Holistic Customer

Customers are increasingly shopping across multiple channels and with varying levels of engagement, creating a non-traditional customer journey that makes the brand experience different for every buyer. Consumers have sporadic presences, the way every shopper interacts is different, that is why understanding digital customers is critical to empowering an effectively personalized shopping experience and increase the customer satisfaction.

If your customer likes to shop online for certain products, but likes to come in store for more engaged shopping processes, only some cx strategies will work for them. Sending them an in-store only coupon for a t-shirt might not be the way to get them in store. But, for a pair of premium shoes they might make the trip. Managing customer experience and building a holistic vision of every customer that is accessible across channels is absolutely essential for positive experiences and customer loyalty.

A Connected Approach

The true key to making customer experience strategies even more effective, is through enabling a connected approach. This takes the form of 3 critical systems that work together to empower seamless commerce:

Mobile Point Of Sale

The Teamwork mobile point of sale enables a flexible purchasing journey, customers can avoid long waits & brands can ensure that purchases can be easily managed and fulfilled, creating superior customer experiences and positive customer feedback.

Order Management System

Flexible fulfillment is critical, especially with customers purchasing products from anywhere. Orders need to be fulfilled quickly, conveniently and reliably. Mistakes and bad experiences cost customers & Teamwork understands this. The industry leading OMS enables retailers to operate with confidence, managing teams and truly take advantage of unified commerce and a positive customer relationship.

Inventory Management

Customers don’t want to wait, with ecommerce companies taking significant leaps forward in reducing shipping times, shipping costs and online availability, retailers with limited stock struggle to compete at the same level. Teamwork provides mobile app tools, so that customers experience management team is always aware of where products and the quantity of available items.

Summary

To deliver the experiences shoppers want, brands must integrate customer databases and analytics tools to create exceptional customer engagement, build brand loyalty, and increase ROI.

Are you looking to incorporate omnichannel strategies into your brand? Teamwork Commerce is specifically designed to enable seamless retail across channels, allowing you to build customer experiences that are tailored for every single shopper and provides award winning customer service.

See how we can help you create an omnichannel approach to eCommerce and implement POS Systems in your company:  www.teamworkcommerce.com/mobile-point-of-sale