Today’s retailers are facing competition like never before – and not just in pricing, but customer experience (CX). To win new customers and retain current business, retailers must employ an innovative, engaging experience to keep customers happy.
Jeff Winter, Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Pitney Bowes Software and Data, explored the importance of customer experience at the recent CXFS show and shared how to build a CX strategy. With retailers using websites, text, and virtual assistants as communication platforms, it’s important that customer experience is driving these interactions.
Retailers need to connect with all generations – not just the Millennials on social or the Baby Boomers in print. Winter explained, referencing a recent CMO Council and Pitney Bowes study, that 5 percent of Baby Boomers will only interact in person and 10 percent of Gen Z will only interact via digital tools.
As for the other customers, they interact on a variety of channels. With in-person, phone, website, text, and social as potential touchpoints, but how can retailers ensure all these channels provide a positive experience?
Leveraging data is the key to creating a seamless customer experience across multiple platforms. According to the joint Pitney Bowes and CMO Council survey, 59 percent of customers are okay with having personal data shared as long as they can dictate how to use it. The survey also found that 84 percent of customers are frustrated when they have to repeat information between platforms – something that data-powered solutions would solve.
If retailers can leverage data to create a better customer experience, they can expect to see increased customer loyalty, acquisition, and profits. It’s clear that an omnichannel experience hasn’t been achieved by many retailers and there is still work to do. The first step to a great customer experience is finding a data-driven partner that can support an omnichannel experience.
