How retailers are navigating the crucial CX actions
The Customer Experience Foundation’s (CXFO) recent Retail Symposium, where speakers included Holland & Barrett, Halfords, Beauty Pie, consumer champion, Martin Newman, and industry analyst, Richard Lim, has revealed how the convergence of digital, cloud, AI and advanced CX applications is driving dramatic improvements in customer loyalty and the crucial CX actions.
Here’s what came out.
- There is a paradigm shift, moving beyond traditional ROI models towards a framework of new ROI’s. These measure CX’s impact on broader aspects like brand advocacy, customer lifetime value, and social impact. This holistic approach recognises CX as an investment in the future, where positive experiences build lasting relationships and drive sustainable growth.
- Whilst digital and self-service is absolutely necessary for great customer experience, empowered employees are still essential for handling complex customer enquiries. A digital experience,no matter how smooth, won’t lead to as strong an emotional and honest connection as talking to a friendly, informed, and helpful human.
- AI is not the silver bullet and retailers are looking for AI-enabled applications that are purpose built for CX. They are using conversational AI bots in IVR to resolve issues or route customers efficiently to the right agents. The integration of AI and behavioural science in creating effective CX was a recurring theme.
- Retailers are optimising their operations, predicting trends, and creating tailored shopping experiences by harnessing data from multiple sources. They are then using this data to understand pain points and nudge and prompt customers at key points during the customer journey. Techniques for surfacing valuable data and modelling impacts is clearly becoming a trend.
Keith Gait CCXP MBA, CEO at the Customer Experience Foundations said; “It is clear that creating profitability for retailers is more complex than ever. With real-time data and AI helping to achieve the next level of personalisation, retailers are on a transformative journey that will only intensify throughout 2024. We are very excited to be at the forefront of these discussions.”
