Retail News Asia: Cognizant’s Global Delivery Head for Retail and Consumer Goods Says Retailers Must Innovatively Leverage Technology to Engage With Customers Well Beyond Buying

“New-age digital customers are changing, so are the ways to keep them hooked,” writes Singaravelu Ekambaram. “Today’s customers in Asia, like those elsewhere, expect seamless and consistent omnichannel experiences along with the best quality and price.” Excerpts:

“Thanks to a plethora of touch-points, selling is no longer a linear process and requires a constant connect with customers. Customer engagement now rides heavily on technology, which, in turn, drives each step of the buying decision and beyond.

The customer is well and truly the king now. Retailers must adopt a customer-centric approach. An ideal customer-centric approach will ensure that the focus is on enhancing customer experiences while simultaneously understanding customer behavior and attitude.

The ideal starting point towards this goal is to review the digital customer touch-points and assess whether customer interactions are designed to enhance both customer experiences as well as the organization’s ability to understand customer intent and preferences.

While the fundamentals of product, price and service are just as relevant as ever, a 360-degree approach to understanding customer interests, attitudes and behaviors is necessary for retailers to meet customer expectations.

Attention – the first step of the A-I-D-A (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) model — is being grabbed by retailers who offer exciting technology experiences to customers.

Several retailers are leveraging personalized products, interactive digital displays, touch-and-go payment applications, body scanners and magic mirrors, all of which have the potential to bridge the gap between the online and the offline worlds, accelerating the promise of a “smart” shopping experience that recognizes and delights the new-age consumer.

Checking the box too quickly on omnichannel programs, before ironing out the issues with in-store operations, can lead to poor customer experiences, low adoption rates of these services, and even customer attrition. Retailers must look at their store environments to see where opportunities exist for improving not only digital experiences, but also the interactions and processes that form the key components of the shopper experience.

Retailers must design experiences that encourage shoppers to come back. Post-purchase experience is one of the important touch-points that can influence customers and inspire loyalty.  The first 24 hours after a purchase is the ideal time to build trust by delivering more content or asking for feedback. That helps capture emotional highs — both positive and negative — and translate them into better actions. Negative outcomes can be turned into opportunities to connect with customers and positive outcomes can be used to strengthen relationships.

Successful retailers will be the ones who leverage technology to engage with customers — well beyond buying — in innovative ways, focus on all touch-points to impress customers and glean insights, and provide a seamless, integrated experience across channels.”

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