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CX Strategy

Preparing for the new Next: Building confidence and resiliency

Antony Wildey, vice president, global sales consulting, Oracle Retail, explains that with the reopening of retail, the role of the store and the associates need to morph to serve the new shopping experience. As the new customer journeys and shopping experiences evolve, execution is everything.

Preparing for the new Next: Building confidence and resiliencyPhoto by istock.com


| by Antony Wildey — VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL SALES CONSULTING, Oracle

The recent crisis has unraveled business processes and societal norms alike, leaving retail in a state of uncertainty. We refer to the near future as the New Next, because there is nothing normal about it. There is no clear roadmap for what lies ahead, but technology makes it possible for retailers to operate with business agility and extend resources to introduce new customer journey's as the shopping experience continues to evolve.

One thing is obvious; retail struggles to survive without the power of the physical store behind the digital experience. Consumer shopping habits have changed, but no one knows if these changes are temporary or forever. With the reopening, the role of the store and the associates need to morph to serve the new shopping experience. As the new customer journeys and shopping experiences evolve, execution is everything.

New journeys emerge

Improving the customer journey should come from improving the customer experience. Customers are showing that they value a great customer journey through their wallets and where they shop, and retailers are catching on. Gartner's 2019 Customer Experience Management Survey determined 74% of CX leaders anticipated increasing CX budgets, compared to 47% in a 2017 survey. While a traditional digital journey (order online, ship to home from a distribution center) is the least expensive operational journey, we saw firsthand that digital alone is not the answer during this crisis.

The key to success for retailers is a flexible and sophisticated omnichannel operation. Even leading retailers like Tesco had to rethink online shopping and delivery to vulnerable shoppers to ensure they received timely service. Traditionally, Buy Online Pick Up In-Store has been the most profitable for the retailer. If a consumer comes to the store, the average order value will increase. According to First Insight's consumer spending survey, 89% of women and 78% of men who visit physical storefronts revealed that they add additional items to their cart beyond what they were intending to purchase. In comparison, only 67% of men and 77% of women reported that they have added extra items to their online shopping carts.

New journeys must emerge that respect social distancing, consider contactless experiences, and still allow for discovery in the shopping experience. The risk of a poor customer experience rises as the permutations of shopping experience develop, but so will innovations in process and technology that help ease and enhance the journey.

Retailers need an integrated and coordinated experience that creates transparency and flexibility to fulfill the order from multiple locations to meet the customer's needs. In a time of uncertainty, consumers want a predictable shopping experience, not delays.

5 ways retailers, brands can create confidence and build resilience

  1. Earn trust. Safety is the biggest priority for consumers. Retailers need to respond appropriately and provide assurance that all the necessary precautions are in place before the consumer enters the store. Retailers who operate in multiple countries will need to implement a different set of requirements per regions, all while maintaining the same brand experience.
  2. Study your customer. In the first couple of weeks of the reopening, retailers saw transactional shopping. There was pent up demand to shop or items to be replenished from an existing customer base. Within two weeks of opening, customers wanted to return to the social experience of retail safely. It's too early to tell how the trend will continue. But more than likely, we will see customers return to a hybrid model — which is a good thing. The McKinsey research confirms that customers who shop across channels are twice as profitable. By segmenting customer data and delivering relevant offers, retailers can orchestrate the return of consumer demand with a more flexible fulfillment model.
  3. Agile everything. Staff, stores, inventory, orders, and the supply need to be agile and responsive. Technology can automate and scale business process, providing flexibility to adjust and adapt customer journeys. With a level of operational transparency, retailers obtain a single view of order, inventory, and customer to respond more effectively in the New Next to protect margins.
  4. Empower with Insight. Yes, the data is changing. Today's consumer has unlimited access to information, more information than many store associates have access to while at work. Level the playing field for your team and empower the store associate with the tools and the data needed to create a superior experience. Tap into artificial intelligence and machine learning to anticipate the needs of the consumer and elevate the experience for your customer and team, driving new levels of satisfaction for both.
  5. Establish communication channels. Retailers need to implement localized communications. If we have a second wave of shutdowns, we believe the closures will be more controlled. Communicate with customers at a local level to redirect demand to alternate locations and channels. As an example, if the contagion rises in London again, they will likely leave shops open in the Southeast. With technology in place, retailers can communicate more specifically, introduce new opportunities to fulfill demand, and contain the impact on their business.

Moving forward, retailers need quick and comprehensive offerings that allow them to see business value in a matter of weeks, not months. During this time, retailers need to consider awakening their dark stores, planning their inventory strategies, creating a walk through store reopening checklist and tuning solution parameters.

As the culture of shopping changes in the short- and long-term, retailers need to evolve in parallel. They need to take quick action as they plan ahead, create confidence and continue to build resiliency.

Antony Wildey is vice president, global sales consulting, at Oracle Retail.


Antony Wildey

As the Vice President of the Retail Sales Consulting, Antony Wildey leads a global team of retail solution experts who provide industry and technical expertise to solve retail business pains across the enterprise.

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