In the age of instant gratification, consumers are used to getting what they want, when they want it. Every interaction we have with a brand must be fast, transparent and personalized for our convenience. Despite this, the average Briton can wait up to 235 days in a queue or service queue in their lifetime. Although clichés suggest that the British are just waiting in line, that couldn't be further from the truth, and in fact, today's queuing culture really does have a detrimental effect on a company's bottom line.
Customers who have to wait a long time are less likely to repeat business with a company, which could have disastrous financial consequences. In fact, the average person in the UK now refuses to wait more than six minutes for a service and two-thirds of shoppers (69%) have decided not to buy an item due to the size of the queue at the store.
The race was launched to offer a unique experience, tailored to the individual consumer, that encourages them to buy more products and services, while retaining their customers and creating a greater sense of brand solidarity. The checkout process and how a customer service handles these most important interactions in the customer journey are at the heart of it all.
Enterprise mobility will be the key.
Most queues or long wait times are the result of legacy manual processes and legacy systems that often use traditional payment systems, contributing to slower service. But due to the Amazon effect, consumers now expect an enhanced 24-hour experience. Businesses need to move quickly to take advantage of technologies like digital signage, tablet scanners, mobile vending, and self-service payment terminals to stay competitive.
The goal should be to make the bricks of the business smart, adapting them to new customer behaviors. The key to success is not in the development of the company, but in the use of available technology. By investing in staff, companies can create a mobile workforce that will not only improve the consumer experience, but also convert potential "window shoppers" into repeat customers.
This new breed of salesperson combines the hallmarks of a good sales consultant's friendliness with a deep understanding of how to meet the needs of tech-savvy consumers. For example, a tablet gives a salesperson all the information he needs to do his job, gives him access to the purchase history of registered customers, and allows him to instantly check stock levels and availability.
As new technologies rapidly enter the market, there is a growing correlation between the number of channels through which companies interact with customers, increasing the complexity and cost of these interactions. Therefore, it is more important than ever to recognize how a mobility strategy can help anticipate customer needs, adapt business processes to better serve customers, and improve a company's efficiency.
Create an omnichannel customer experience
By implementing a dedicated mobility strategy across online and offline operations, unnecessary queues will become a thing of the past in the retail business. By streamlining the value chain and creating an omnichannel customer experience, workers will be able to handle multiple tasks more efficiently, ultimately delivering a higher level of customer service.
At the same time, consumers create vast amounts of data when they shop through these multiple channels. Technologies capable of interpreting this information and providing data-driven insights in real time are invaluable to companies that want to improve interactions with their customers. This data also has a key role to play in automating tedious processes and providing a more personalized shopping experience that consumers demand.
For customers, easy-to-use self-service tools like contactless payment and automated ordering services have not only an extremely positive impact on customer satisfaction, but also a net benefit to the business. In fact, according to our own research, 67% of shoppers are more likely to shop at a store with integrated technology, and more than two-thirds think that retailers who use more technology enable a faster shopping experience.
These enterprise mobility technologies have the power to combine human resources, processes, and technologies to manage not only mobile devices, but also derive true business value from the digital age. For organizations that put customer service at the heart of their operations, understanding consumer behavior and providing solutions that reduce friction throughout the customer journey is essential. While an enterprise mobility strategy can be complex to implement, effective execution can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and retention, buying brands long time. Ahead of the competition.
Leigh Moody, Executive Director of SOTI UK